Meanwhile
by SpaghettiArms94
Summary: Beacon has fallen. Vale is in disarray, and most of the students, staff and military are scattered or lost. These are the collection of stories that help fill the empty spaces left at the conclusion of Volume 3. I won't touch anything that's canon, but I will take some liberties wherever I can going forward. This is my first fanfic, and there are a lot of stories I want to tell.
1. Wake Up, Jaune

**Disclaimer: There will be spoilers. If you haven't seen up to V3C12, I would not recommend reading this. By the same token, this is going to make A LOT more sense if you've seen up to V3C12.**

* * *

Chapter 1: "Wake Up, Jaune"

Jaune woke up in a fog. Not a literal fog, Well, actually there was something in the air... now that we're keeping track. So maybe it was a literal fog after all. "You win this round... weather." Either way, the young huntsman-in-training was unaccustomed to waking up under such strange circumstances. He couldn't force his mind to put more than a few scattered thoughts together before he drifted off into thinking about something else. His vision was blurry, as it usually was in the morning, but it wasn't morning. It was still very dark. The only light came from a series of small slits right in front of his face. "Where... am I?" he blurted out, unsure of exactly who was going to hear the question, much less answer. "I... this... can't be my bed." It was at this moment that Jaune's attention was drawn to the intense pain in the back of his head. He attempted to raise his arm to find the source of it, but didn't get much further than a short twitch before his hand smashed into something cold, something metallic. It gave way, whatever it was... seemed like a door of some kind. It creaked as it opened no more than a few inches, then abruptly slammed back to it's original orientation. "Ok, definitely... not my bed. Also, why am I upright?"

Having been awake now for a minute or so, things started to become more clear. It definitely wasn't foggy, there appeared to be a dissipating smoke. His recovering sense of smell could deduce that. There was a cold breeze blowing through his 'face slits', which he still didn't understand. "Seriously, what's going on? Why am I in a cold, metal box... outside apparently... in... the middle of the night...?" His brain raced to catch up to the... three whole thoughts he had just strung together.

"Ok Jaune, you got this. Just open the bed...door...thing. That's it, one step at a time." His arms felt like Jell-o, but flailing them in a direction that was generally in front of him seemed to do the trick. The metal door swung open, revealing that he was, in fact, outside... in downtown Vale. "This makes less sense now than it did five seconds ago...awesome."

He knew that the literal fog had turned out to be smoke, which had pretty much vanished by now. "Weather's got nothin on me!" he thought triumphantly, unsure why exactly he had just claimed victory over weather. The figurative fog was a little less forgiving. He couldn't remember, for the life of him, how he got into this situation. Running through the checklist of things he knew for sure, Jaune calculated that he was in downtown Vale, at night, in the cold, in an upright metal box with a now-opened door. Of course, there was the small matter of the sharp pain in the back of his head. His response times were still very sluggish, and his legs felt about as Jell-o-y as his arms, but nonetheless, he decided to make an attempt to emerge from the rocket locker.

"ROCKET LOCKER! That's what this thing is! That clears up... three... of my several thousand questions for the world right now." Outstanding from the list of issues not immediately resolved by this revelation was the Jell-o legs. Jaune tried to take one step out of the locker, and promptly stumbled down the small pile of rubble at the base of his pod, landing hard, on his hands and knees against the cold asphalt. This was a stance Jaune knew all too well. He used it in almost every fight, right before getting trounced by his opponent. Nonetheless, the familiarity of the thought comforted him greatly, mostly because it was actually a thought. Memories were beginning to trickle into his mind. Looking up, he recognized that something wasn't quite right with Vale, but he remained unable to place a finger on it. It was at the exact same moment that his nose started to burn from some, apparently, still lingering smoke.

Raising to a kneel, Jaune shook his head, and rubbed his eyes, still trying to force his brain to give up the secrets it was keeping from him. He couldn't figure out the fog that was clouding all of his thoughts, "It's like… pea soup in my brain. No. I don't really like pea soup. It's more like Ren's pancake batter. That sounds better, yeah… my thoughts are cloudier than Ren's pancake batter. I'll bet my brain is delicious." With his newfound pancake brain theory in place, Jaune slowly, but surely, got himself up.

As the seconds passed, the monotonous ringing in his ears gave way to new sounds. He hadn't been able to detect them until now, but there were what seemed to be a series of loud drumming noises that formed no particular cadence. Jaune attempted to cup his hand to his ear to try to get a more conclusive reading on what he thought he heard. What actually happened was less graceful. His equilibrium was still off, ever so slightly, but enough so that his cupped hand brushed against the, now apparent, swelling behind his ear. He recoiled from the pain that he had somehow forgotten mere moments before. Something felt different now… aside from the pain. Kneading his fingers with his thumb, Jaune realized that there was moisture where there previously hadn't been. Upon further inspection, he found blood. It was exactly where he had bumped his hand into his head.

"Wait, What? I can't even count how many times I've been stuffed into a rocket locker. Nothing like this has ever happened. I mean, I don't usually black out from it. It's more of an inconvenience really." The confusion was almost palpable. Then, a few more neurons started to fire. "I guess I couldn't protect myself with my aura after I hit my head? That makes… _some_ sense... Aura! That's right, 'ol Jaune picked up a thing or two from his training. All I've got to do is activate it, and my head should heal up in no time."

Jaune hadn't actively kickstarted his aura since… ever... really. It usually protected him passively, but whatever happened in that rocket locker did a real number on him. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes "Ok, no problem. All I've got to do is remember what I learned from all of those nights on the roof with…Pyr… … … … " and the fog was gone.


	2. Dewpoint

Chapter 2: Dewpoint

The inside of his head must have looked like one of the fireworks displays at the Vytal Festival. Random memories, thoughts and dreams flashed before his eyes in seconds. The events of the past few hours, no, days were being translated… organized perhaps… into something of a living nightmare. Very little of it mattered, even in the least. Right now, Jaune was shaking… uncontrollably. Legs trembling and mind completely overloaded, he dropped back to a kneel, arms hanging lax at his sides. The only thing he could think about was the only thing that he cared about right now. Pyrrha.

That moment. The one single moment that had confounded Jaune to the point of verbal and physical paralysis. It was the culmination of every single interaction between the two. The invincible girl, Pyrrha Nikos and… Jaune Arc. Together, as one. For no more time than was necessary to communicate her inexplicable adulation to him. In his mind, it was a brief eternity... The shame of it was that all he could manage in return was a stunned "Hey!" as he was shoved into the rocket locker. His pleas for Pyrrha to reconsider… to take on this challenge together... went unheeded. The last thing he saw… her deep green eyes meeting his own through the unforgiving coldness of the metal prison that would preserve his life.

Jaune's head darted to his right. For a moment there was hope! "The locker! I can go back. I won't be the damsel in distress. NOT. AGAIN." Just as quickly as he summoned the strength to move, it left him again. The locker was a wreck. Structurally, it looked fine, but it was never intended to carry a person, especially not an ironclad warrior. Smoke still puffed intermittently from the base of the machine. The illuminated keypad on the door's exterior was dark, and shot a spark at Jaune, mocking him, as if to say "There's nothing you can do. Just give up."

The fog that had previously incapacitated his mind now took on a new, equally debilitating form. Condensation. The tiny droplets welling in his eyes returned his vision to a blur. But his expression wasn't one of sadness. Anger and helplessness gave way to frustration and fragmented thoughts. What was Professor Ozpin trying to do in that basement? Why did Ozpin send them away? What had even happened to Ozpin? What was Pyrrha trying change by staying to fight? There was no reason she had to send Jaune away. He could have called Professor Good...witch… from… "SCROLL."

In the seconds it took him to rifle through his pocket in search of his scroll, Jaune began to weigh every option he had. Calling Glynda wouldn't do any good. She was… somewhere… but without knowing exactly where, it was too much of a gamble. "What about Ren? Nora?" he contemplated. "No, no, no…" The last time he'd seen the rest of his team, he explicitly told them to keep fighting. If they were engaged with the Grimm, White Fang or any of those giant mech soldiers… they wouldn't even have time to answer. Calling Pyrrha directly was a fool's errand. Jaune knew what her intentions were, even if he didn't fully understand them.

With the options on his own team depleted, his considerations shifted to team RWBY. He hadn't seen Ruby since she lept off of the transport ship at Amity Coliseum. Weiss and Blake had gone for coffee, or maybe it was tea… but that was in the early afternoon. And Yang? Who knew anything about Yang? She could still be effectively under house arrest in her dorm. Outside of RWBY, Jaune's options became very limited, and quite frankly... he couldn't afford to waste another moment searching through his contact list. "Ruby. It has to be Ruby." Hands still shaking, He touched the call button on his scroll, and heard it begin to ring.

"No one moves as fast as her, and she's always been there for me, for… everyone really." he thought. It was true, Ruby was always there to save the day. She trusted Jaune enough that he was her first call on many occasions in the past. "And...I mean, she charged that Nevermore without a second thought. Didn't even have her own weapon with-"

"I'm sorry, your call could not be completed, the number you are trying to reach is currently out of service." Those words hurt him more than they should have, but Jaune didn't have time to try to consider why Ruby's scroll was out of service. "OH, COME ON!" he shouted at the device. "I'M SORRY? REALLY?!" Anger gave way to despair. These passing moments could determine the fate of his closest friend, his mentor, and the girl whose life he cherished more than anything else in the world right now. Just the thought of something happening to Pyrrha brought more tears to his eyes, and more focus to his resolve.

With one hand, Jaune wiped the condensation from his eyes as he simultaneously, and automatically, pressed the next name listed in his scroll.

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Slowing from a sprint, Weiss quickly retrieved her ringing scroll from it's place on her belt. "It's Jaune!", she exclaimed, stopping her search to answer the call. She had been scouring the grounds at Beacon for the two missing members of team JNPR, but now she decided it would be prudent to just ask, "Where are you-"

"Weiss! PLEASE, you have to stop her."

"What-", she sputtered. It was the only word she was able to get out before Jaune's patience, and time ran out. Weiss had absolutely no idea about any of what Jaune and Pyrrha had seen and been through that night, and right now Jaune had no time to explain it. He interjected.

"PYRRHA! She's going after that woman. A-at the top of the tower. She doesn't stand a chance!"

A quick glance to the right was all Weiss needed to confirm her location. The CCT Tower was impossible to miss. But this conversation didn't make any sense to her. Wasn't Jaune with Pyrrha? What woman? And did he actually mean that there's someone who could completely overwhelm Pyrrha in a fight? She had to try to get answers. "Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?"

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME.." he stammered. The outburst clearly caught Weiss off-guard. This was serious. The tremble in his voice meant something was very wrong. Jaune was never so blunt, so direct. He was always polite and jovial... hopelessly awkward... but an upstanding guy nonetheless. "Please…" he begged, battling back the tears, "You have to save Pyrrha…" It was the only thing he could think to say to communicate the gravity of the situation to Weiss.

"We will. Are you okay?" It was clear that Weiss and Jaune had come a long way since first meeting on their first day at Beacon. She showed a legitimate concern for his well-being. But knowing what he knew, that just wasn't good enough. Through no fault of her own, Weiss had become so selfless that it hurt Jaune in ways he couldn't even begin to articulate.

"AAAAAHHH..." was the only sound he could manage. It was an instinctive scream, at the top of his lungs. Unable to do anything more to help, and in a blur of mixed emotions and tears, he pitched his scroll down to the street in front of him. The sound of shattering glass, a cruel parallel to his own level of composure.


	3. Networking

Chapter 3: Networking

He had shut down, more or less, in the interlude between taking out his frustration on his scroll, and the present. Still, it was unlikely that much more than five minutes had passed since regaining consciousness in the rocket locker. Jaune stared blankly at the broken pieces of his scroll, in disbelief for a short time. The shattered glass was… somehow beautiful, glowing with a shimmering amber color. It was the same color as her tiara. But it wasn't. Jaune looked up, around, not at anything specifically, but it was a useful exercise to start absorbing some of his surroundings. As he had noticed before, Vale was different now.

The shimmering, amber colored glass fragments were not the symbolic show of solidarity from some greater being that Jaune hoped, it was the reflection from the fires burning in the city's abandoned buildings. But the distressed condition of Vale itself drew immediate parallels to the empty, sinking feeling that he felt inside. Much like his scroll, Jaune was shattered. He had no idea what was happening at the CCT Tower. There was no doubt that Weiss would help, but the hardest part was not knowing anything.

"You've got… to do… something" he declared to himself. "You are the leader of your team, and right now, your team needs you. Your friends need you. Why don't you get up, off of the ground, and go help them… help… someone. Anyone. What kind of leader shuts down before the fight is finished? What kind of leader just leaves his team to fend for themselves when there's something he can do to help them?"

"Jaune…? Holy crap. It is you. Where'd you come from?" The voice was familiar, and given the presence of the rocket locker, somehow appropriate. Jaune swung his head around, blinking rapidly, as if trying to erase what he was seeing from existence. "Well, at least I can check 'unseeing things' off of the list of my possible semblances", Jaune thought to himself.

"Cardin? Man this is… weird… I was just thinking about you." Jaune was only half-lying. "I, uh, just came from Beacon." Without an actual plan, he said the first thing that came to mind, recalling Professor Ozpin's last words to him. He needed to find Glynda, General Ironwood and Crow. That would be how he could try to help. It honored the last thing Pyrrha asked him to do as well. He owed her that at the very least, if he had any chance of helping her. "I need to find Professor Goodwitch. Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, she's... You okay buddy? You look like you saw a ghost. Are you hurt?" Cardin asked, genuinely. Jaune wondered if this was a hallucination, or if Cardin took a really hard hit to the head. It had to be one or the other.

"I'm good. Really. Thanks." Jaune finally had a reason to put on a strong facade, so he rose to his feet, facing Cardin. "But my team's in big trouble, and right now, I just need to know where Glynda is."

"Right. She's here, in Vale. Just a few blocks from here. We've been trying to set up a safe-zone after everything that happened today." Who was this person, and what had they done with Cardin Winchester, Jaune wondered. "You still look pale, Jaune. If you're going to find Glynda, I'm coming with you. Let's go… there's too many Grimm around to stay isolated like this."

Cardin was right. As soon as they moved from the locker crash site, Jaune started to see Grimm, in large packs, roaming the city. Vale wasn't heavily damaged, but the signs of recent conflict were everywhere. Fires burned in some isolated areas. The ash of slain Grimm blew like a dust storm through the streets. There were… bodies. Mostly cybernetic, but some human. Jaune felt a chill run through his body. He'd seen... actual death today. He thought back to Penny. Her death was no accident, but it certainly wasn't murder. How could anyone have known?

Then there was the young woman that Professor Ozpin tried to save, or so Jaune assumed. He'd witnessed her death by the hands of some kind of flying witch lady. Jaune had seen her around Beacon for several weeks leading up to the beginning of the Vytal Festival Tournament, but never had any reason to engage in casual conversation, much less believe her to be a murderer… or a flying witch lady. He had seen most of the matches, too. Her team was exceptionally skilled, but not ruthless.

He shook his head, as if that would purge the thoughts from his mind. Turning his focus back to Cardin, Jaune understood why he was being so un-Cardin-like. Whether they were friends or enemies, right now they were partners. The world was against them, or so it seemed. He felt bad for immediately assuming the worst about Cardin when they first met. Before they had even run a block or so, Jaune decided that he'd made a mistake.

"Thank You, Cardin. I-I'd probably still be back there in the street if you didn't come along and snap me out of it." It was at this point that Jaune noticed the dents in Cardin's armor. His perpetually perfect hairstyle had become wet, probably from perspiration, and hung freely on all sides of his head. "I gotta say, you look like you've been through some... stuff. Are you alright?"

"I've seen a lot of things today, man." Cardin groaned. "Robot uprisings, a half cyborg guy, giant Grimm dragons, and I think maybe a civil war too."

Jaune didn't know whether to question Cardin's sanity, or his own. "You're gonna have to explain some of that to me. A-actually. All of it."

Cardin obliged, "It's only about another block to the HQ. So you get the abridged version. First of all, lemme say It's been a long night, and I'm exhausted, but I'm almost positive I watched one of Atlas' capital ships shoot two others out of the sky. And those robot soldiers from Atlas? Yeah, they turned on us about a half hour after that weird broadcast in the middle of the Tournament fight. Turned on us, then started shooting at us." Cardin paused to catch his breath... or maybe to contemplate something that he didn't know how to say. Jaune had… several questions.

But Cardin didn't give him time, "I don't even know where the thing came from. But in the middle of fending off a robot army, this big… dragon Grimm just flies over us, headed towards Beacon. I don't even know how to explain this, but it pretty much crapped out more Grimm everywhere it went. Between me, Glynda, this other old guy and a handful of Atlas soldiers, we were getting pushed back."

The two rounded a corner, and walked into what looked like a small hospital. Jaune stopped to looked out the door after they had entered the building. Across from it, there was a park. It was at the very least a one block by two block sized open field where transport ships were unloading students, civilians and military units, presumably from Beacon. Cardin pulled Jaune back to him, and said with a very quiet voice, "The cyborg guy was with Glynda in the office earlier. Looks just like that General. Uh… Ironwood. Except like, half robot. Anyway, he's the one who saved us. Just showed up, took out a dozen or so of those robots, and started giving orders to everybody."

"Anyway, I'm sorry to do this to ya, Jaune, but I gotta go. The rest of my team is... still missing. I was out lookin for 'em when I found you. Glynda should be down the hall straight ahead there, first door on the left. She'll want to hear anything you can tell her about Beacon." The news about Cardin's team hit Jaune like a truck. He'd never given him any credit for being even a half decent leader, but the guy was going out on his own in a city full of Grimm to find his missing teammates.

Jaune offered his hand to Cardin, a sign of respect for his brother-in-arms. Cardin accepted, but then pulled Jaune close enough that he'd call it a borderline bro-hug. "I hope the rest of your team is OK. Whatever this is, we're gonna need everybody we can get."

"Cardin… I… Thanks for everything. I owe ya one. Good luck out there. And take care of yourself." Cardin just nodded, turning back towards the entrance. With that, the bully with a heart of gold went back out the door in the direction of the rocket locker.

The last few minutes had done more to redeem Cardin Winchester in Jaune's eyes than weeks of therapy ever could. His resolve was now unbreakable, and the objective was now clear and in sight. "Down the hall, first door on the left. Got it." Still out of breath, Jaune ordered his legs to carry him the last few yards to the door Cardin had specified. As it turned out, the door was already opened, and Professor Goodwitch was drawing borders on a map of the residential district of Vale. She must have sensed Jaune's presence… or just heard him panting at the doorway, because she turned her head to acknowledge his presence.

"Mr. Arc, I'm glad to see you've made it through the last few hours in one piece. If you haven't heard, this area is being designated as a safe zone. It is being patrolled by Atlesian Soldiers and any willing and able Huntsmen and Huntresses. If you're willing and able, I would suggest you head across the hall and sign up for the rotation. If you're up to it, there are also signups for search and rescue missions. They're not normally suitable for first year students, but considering the situation we're in, we'll take the manpower." Glynda always had a militaristic tone to her voice. She wasn't trying to act like anybody's mom. More like a drill sergeant.

Jaune hesitated only briefly, "Professor Ozpin sent me here. He told me to find you, General Ironwood and Crow. I'm supposed to bring you to the vault… or basement...up at Beacon."

Glynda was taken aback by the news. Not because of what she'd heard, but who she'd heard it from. "Mr. Arc. At the risk of sounding rude, why are YOU the one delivering this information?"

Jaune started, almost with a whimper "I've seen a lot of things happening tonight that I don't understand. But after my team, and the rest of the students made it back to Beacon from Amity, Professor Ozpin was just standing at the front door to the CCT Tower. He ducked back inside, and Pyrrha just followed him. I didn't know what was going on… so I went with them. The next thing I know, Pyrrha is getting into some kind of pod, and Ozpin started to turn on this big machine. There was this other girl too, but then another girl showed up and…" Realizing he'd been looking at the ground, Jaune looked at Glynda. Her eyes were wide, not sure how to react to what she was hearing. "The woman who showed up last… I think… no… she killed the girl in the left pod. That's when Ozpin told us to get out, and come find you."

She didn't even respond. Glynda ran right past Jaune into the hallway and towards the exit, tapping a number into her scroll as she moved. Jaune followed her through the entryway and onto the street. "Qrow! Where are you?" she shouted into her scroll.

Suddenly, Jaune was trembling again. He began to curse his physical well-being at that moment, until he realized that everyone and everything around him was shaking. Now there was a low rumble coming from off in the distance. It was difficult to tell from all of the echoing, but most of the people nearby were looking in the direction of Beacon Academy. The lights flickered in the streets, before shutting down for a few seconds.

When the power returned, Jaune looked to Glynda, who had now moved her scroll from her ear to her immediate line of sight. "Qrow? Hello? Can you hear me?" She returned the scroll to her ear briefly, "Damn!" This kind of desperate outburst was not something he had ever seen Glynda do. She was always so composed, in control. She turned back to Jaune, "I'm afraid we've lost the Cross Continental Transmit System."

The color drained from Jaune's face. He knew what was happening at the top of that tower, and what was at stake. If that tower was lost, Jaune feared he may lose something indescribably more dear to him.


	4. The Lighthouse

Chapter 4: The Lighthouse

"We HAVE to get to that tower!" Jaune declared.

Pyrrha was somewhere up there, she had to be. She'd indicated as much before saying goodbye. Jaune was not prepared to say goodbye. Not while he still had breath in his lungs. Back in the street, his mind was muddled, his discretion held hostage by despair and self-loathing. Now, after the things he'd seen, returning to Beacon to finish this fight on his own terms was the only path.

"The tower has fallen," Glynda started, "There is no longer any reason to risk lives unnecessarily trying to defend it. Beacon is now under a strict quarant-"

"Unnecessarily!?" Jaune fired back, quite uncharacteristically. "Pyrrha is up there! If you don't want to waste lives, then we have to save her!" He realized that this wasn't his first time making a case to save Pyrrha. "The rest of my team… Weiss… they're all still at the school. Don't you care?"

"Don't be ridiculous," a booming voice rang out from behind Jaune. "The situation requires… a more delicate hand. The time for fists has passed. Your friends are by no means out of harm's way, but they're under the charge of some of the best men we have."

"Thank you, James." Glynda said with an irritated tone, but managed to remain calm. "Mr. Arc, there is no way for me to explain the forces that are at work here to you in a meaningful way. And I'm sure that even if I could, they wouldn't influence your desire to be with your team."

Jaune stood in disbelief of what he was hearing. The holes he was trying to stare through Glynda's head might get her to understand, if he could somehow make that happen. He turned to confront General Ironwood. Jaune was fueled by desperation and hate after what he'd heard,his agreeable nature tucked away neatly in the recesses of his mind. When his head had swung around to plead his case with the general, his resolve was instantly crushed.

The usual hulk of a man that was General Ironwood now looked like something out of an Arnold Schwarzenhazel movie. In that moment, Jaune remembered how he and many of the other students had seen his ship go down outside of Amity Coliseum. "This guy is hardcore. Really, like made of metal." he thought. Ironwood could sense that Jaune was mortified by what he was seeing.

"Jaune, is it? Well… Jaune, I assure you that your friends and teammates are in the best hands we have to offer. Glynda and I are here in the city to oversee the establishment of a safe-zone here in Vale. Our colleague, Qrow is on his way to Beacon as we speak. He will join Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck in their mission to bring everyone in danger to safety. As we can't say for sure what the fate of your Headmaster is, at this time, our orders are to follow certain… protocols established by the most senior members of the staff."

Jaune had cooled off a bit. The general's speech had disarmed some of his fears, but he wasn't satisfied with the lack of attention being given to whatever was happening on top of Beacon Tower. "General Ironwood. Sir. I get that your men are doing their best. But that woman Pyrrha went after… she has power like I've never seen. It's not a semblance. It's like she's magic or something. Pyrrha is strong, but up against that? I just have to help her. I don't care what happens to me anymore. I'll do anything. Just let me help her." By the end of his plea, Jaune was gritting his teeth, eyes closed, trying his hardest not to break down in front of Ironwood.

The general sighed briefly, "Your passion is admirable, Jaune. Really, it is. I was like you once. Reckless, guided blindly by emotion. In time, you'll learn that you must care for yourself. At the end of the day, especially this day, it could be all you have left. I know that will be difficult for you to hear. My men are the best of the best. They will sacrifice everything to bring your teammates and friends home safely. I sent Qrow to Beacon personally. His duties are twofold. First, he will inquire as to the whereabouts of Professor Ozpin. For better or for worse, he will then see to the defense of what's left of the Tower. If Ms. Nikos is up there as you say, then her safety is Qrow's priority."

"So then we just wait? What if Crow can't help?" Jaune rebutted.

"I've known Qrow for a long time. He and I don't always operate on the same moral plateaus, but I can assure you that his greatest priority is always the mission at hand. He will come through for us. I promise." With that, General Ironwood nodded to Jaune and made a motion for Glynda to follow him back into the hospital.

"Qrow is a powerful ally, Mr. Arc." Glynda assured him. "General Ironwood's quarantine of the school and the surrounding area does not permit anyone to return to Beacon. But if you really want to help, there are wounded students, soldiers and civilians being brought here on transport ships from Amity, Beacon and the sectors of Vale that were overrun by Grimm. We're going to need a lot of help facilitating all of them. Head to the clearing across the street, and join some of the other teams assisting the medical staff. I know you just want to help your friends, but right now, you'll have to settle for helping the citizens of Vale. They need you every bit as much."

Glynda turned to follow Ironwood inside. Deep down, Jaune knew that no one needed him as much as Pyrrha did, even if it was against her wishes. It pained him to have that thought. His job was to uphold the peace of the world. Choosing to save one over many… it went against everything he thought it meant to be a huntsman. He couldn't shake the thought of Pyrrha, all alone, against the most powerful force he'd ever seen… but considering he had no way to help her, Jaune would make it his mission to help the people of Vale. He would put his trust… her safety... in the hands of Ironwood's men, this mysterious Crow person, and his friends who were still fighting at Beacon.

He turned away from the Hospital after his talk with Professor Goodwitch. Jaune began to walk across the street towards the makeshift docking area. His pace was initially slow, until he started to sift through the deluge of voices coming from the clearing, "Ere comes anotha one!" Jaune looked up, surprised to see that three quarters of team SSSN was one of the groups assisting the medical staff. The distinctly foreign voice he'd heard must have belonged to Scarlet. "Where is that guy from, anyway?" he thought. After locating some familiar faces, Jaune's pace increased as he jogged toward them. Sage was the first to notice Jaune, his physical acknowledgement must have tipped off Neptune, who was the first to say something.

"Jaune, over here!" he yelled. Neptune didn't have his signature red coat on, and his necktie hung loose around his partially unbuttoned shirt. "Man, it's good to see some familiar faces around here. It was really starting to get kind of scary seeing all of these people coming in hurt like this."

Neptune was right, Jaune hadn't seen a lot of familiar faces. Sure, he'd seen Cardin, Glynda and General Ironwood, but the sheer volume of people condensed in this small area was staggering. "Hey guys," Jaune greeted the whole team, even though he'd never really met Scarlet or Sage. "I'm glad to see you guys all made it out of Beacon. Is Some here sunwhere?"... "Idiot." he thought to himself as the three teammates cracked a smile for probably the first time in hours… "Is Sun here somewhere? Sorry. It's been a rough half hour for me."

Still smiling, Neptune replied, "No, he stayed behind to help the last of the students get out safely. We figured we'd be better off helping out here, so we just kind of split up." Jaune knew a thing or two about being split up.

The transport ship landed in front of them, and the able-bodied students staggered down the ramp and onto the grass. Then it was the turn of Jaune and the Sun-less team SSSN to help everyone who couldn't help themselves to the hospital. Neptune and Jaune carried a stretcher for one injured soldier. Having tried for this long to hide his concern for his teammates, Jaune finally had to ask. "Hey, Neptune… did you see anybody from my team before you headed back here?"

"No... I didn't", he started. Jaune felt himself deflate a little bit. "But I got a call from Sun right before the CCTS went down. He said the last ship was ready to go. Two of your teammates were there, and they were hurt pretty bad. I don't think they could stand on their own." He hesitated, "Sorry, I'm… uh… not good with names. The ninja guy and the hammer girl." His eyes widened, hearing this. Ren and Nora were okay! Maybe General Ironwood was right about being able to save everyone. Jaune caught himself smiling for the first time all night. "Most of team RWBY was there too. I don't think anyone knows where Ruby went, but Sun said the rest of them were looking pretty rough. He didn't really go into details."

A doctor had lead the two to a vacant room inside, where they lowered stretcher, helped transfer the patient to a table, and headed back towards the clearing outside. "All things considered, that's really good news," Jaune began. "I'm glad to hear that Weiss is-" He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Whoa, what about Weiss, Jaune?" Neptune asked, as if any semblance of hope had been sucked out of him. "Jaune? Weiss… IS… okay, isn't she?"

Jaune fumbled his words for a moment, "I… yeah. I mean, I called her about twenty-five minutes ago. She's fine. It's just… Pyrrha's kind of in a tough situation. I asked her if she could help, and she said she would."

Neptune just looked at him for a moment, before putting his hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Don't do that to me, man. I thought you were gonna say she was in trouble. If she's with Pyrrha, I'm not worried about it." Jaune wasn't sure if it was worth the heartache that it might cause if he tried to explain the actual danger that he might have put Weiss in. Thinking about that call apparently tripped something in his mind, because he remembered something very specifically from his brief conversation with Weiss.

* * *

"We will, Are you okay?"

* * *

"She's gonna be fine, Neptune. I never heard anybody else speak while I was on the call, but she was with someone. She said 'We will' when I asked her to help Pyrrha." Jaune started to wonder who else could have been able-bodied enough to go with Weiss. The two walked out the door and back into the clearing. Both of them looking towards Beacon Tower. They stood in silence, briefly as they realized that the tip of the Tower was actually visible from the ground, when there were no ships obstructing the view. Jaune found himself unable to look away from the sight.

Neptune broke the silence, "So, who do you think was with-" His instantly burning retinas stopped his speech mid-sentence. A piercing light radiated from Beacon Academy. Jaune remained transfixed on the tower. The beacon of hope. The lighthouse.


	5. Bird's Eye - Part 1

Chapter 5: Bird's Eye: Part 1

The pouring rain made this a miserable evening for just about everything. Most of the townsfolk carried umbrellas or wore various forms of raincoats or ponchos. They dashed from cover to cover to avoid being drenched by the torrent of water falling from the sky. Others simply stayed indoors, unable to justify having to fuss with mother nature to run errands. But one man didn't seem to care. He mosied down the sidewalk at a very casual pace. His cloak, drenched. Hair? Slicked back, dripping from every tip. His dress shirt, hardly appropriate for any occasion when dry, looked more like a wet suit.

The man made his way to the end of the street, stopping briefly to check his surroundings. "The Foam Anchor. Yeah, this is the place." The small tavern with a nonsensical name was the same place he'd always go. "Why do I still do this?" he wondered out loud, before opening the door and stepping in.

The tiny bell above the door alerted anyone sober enough to care, of his presence. A few awkward looks were exchanged between inebriated patrons and the… most likely also inebriated newcomer. He looked around for a moment before a voice direct at him seemed to sail above the rabble, catching his ear, "You're late. You're never late."

There weren't many people who Qrow Branwen could call his friends. He couldn't afford to have friends. But as he worked his way across the room, he took a seat at the bar next to the closest thing he had to one. "Ehhh-I think you're early. You're never early." he challenged, brushing off the comments about his late arrival. Reaching into his pants pocket, Qrow retrieved his favorite flask, the contents of which remained a mystery to everyone. Well, almost everyone.

"How can you still drink that garbage?" the voice next to him inquired, disapprovingly. The bartender, not coincidentally, also gave a disapproving look, but did not speak. "You're at a bar… That's as close to home as you get. At least try to put on a good face."

"Fine… geez." he said as he reluctantly put his flask back into his pocket.

Qrow's friend motioned to the bartender, "He'll have the usual." They remained silent for the time it took the bartender to prepare the drink. "And for me, cherry moonshine. Extra cherries." More silence followed. After a short time, both drinks were finished, and passed across the counter. "Thank you."

After more silence and a few sips from his drink, Qrow growled, "I hate coming all the way out here for this… One of these days, we're gonna have to stop meeting like this."

His counterpart looked up, irritated, "Oh, I'm sorry. Next time we'll meet at high noon. In the park! I'll bring a nice picnic blanket and some potato salad. You can put on your Sunday best- Oh, wait, you've already got that on. It's not even Sunday. What's the occasio-"

"Yeah… reeeeal funny… I mean at some point you're going to have to come clean. So you can… you know, go out in the daylight? That might be fun." Qrow's apparent sarcasm was not lost on his friend. This was a normal do-si-do for the two.

They shared a smile, then provocative sneers, then another minute of silence.

"So, where do you want to start this time?" was the question posed to Qrow.

"I thought it was your turn to go first..." He pondered whether that was true, or if he just never wanted to go first. "Ehhh… whatever. But I still don't understand why we even do this. You already know everything I'm going to tell you."

"Humor me." was all Qrow got in response.

"If you laugh at any point during this, I might have to reconsider our friendship." he quipped.

* * *

I'm not gonna bore you with how my story begins in a bar, that's...

"...par for the course." his friend interjected.

Shuuut uuuup... Anyway, I'd just concluded my last mission for Ozpin. Mind you, I said concluded, not completed. As in, he didn't even know I was coming for a visit. The look on his face was priceless when he saw me in the courtyard at Beacon. Oh, wait… back up on that. General Iron-for-brains was the first one I ran into. You know how he is… acts all high and mighty in front of a crowd, then throws empty threats around when it's not for show anymore.

Ehhh-hem, moving along… the mission… I'd been tailing this woman…

"...par for the course."

Oh, for fu-. Never mind… trying to gather intel for Ozpin. Ever since she attacked Amber, this girl was nearly impossible to track. Probably something to do with the maiden powers. No, definitely something to do with the maiden powers. She moved all over the four kingdoms, but mostly stayed in Vale, as in, the Kingdom, not the city. I'm not… that… bad at my job. I don't know if I would have ever been able to keep up with her if it wasn't for her cronies being… cronies.

Torchwick might as well have left a dust crystal trail to his HQ in the south east, inside Mountain Glenn. Even the kids figured that one out. When they flushed him out, all of Beacon was pretty much waiting for him. They put him behind bars. Still not sure if that was their plan or not, but I'm guessing it was.

Right around that time, the trail went completely cold in the search for our maiden-slayer. There were leads, but no hard evidence. The two kids I saw when I saved Amber, they were staying at Beacon for the Vytal Tournament. That's easy. And you'd think the rest would be easier. Find the kids, then look for a floating one-glowing-eyed harpy. No offense.

"None taken."

Nope. She didn't use her power for anything At least, not anything we knew about. There were some incidents at Beacon in the weeks leading up to the tournament… like the break-in at the CCT… but nothing stolen. Nothing broken… aside from security guards… Either she was hiding, or she was the best illusionist I've ever seen. Turns out it was both.

Tracking is easy. You and I both know that. It's the semblances that are tough. Anybody who's anybody at hiding their semblance takes too much observation and analysis to make it worth the risk while undercover. Both of the kids were experts at hiding theirs. It took me a long time, and I couldn't get close enough to get a read on the 'em. I was sure one of them could mess with perception. That much was clear from the attack on Amber. It became more clear in some of the fights later in the tournament. Certain students kept claiming to have seen things that no one else saw. It was pretty obvious they were interfering in fights, not so obvious why.

So she wasn't using the maiden powers, and if she needed to do something shifty, she was covered by a shroud of twisted perception.. Even after Ironwood shut down Torchwick, she didn't bat an eye. I gave it a few more weeks of observation, but nothing came out of it. I watched their first tournament match. Nothing. Skilled fighters, sure… but nothing that screamed unlimited power. Not even the slightest indication. It was a huge waste of time. Evidence or not, I made the decision to cut my losses and report back to Ozpin.

When I got back, I found Ironwood was trying to use sheer force to intimidate everybody, but all he was doing was scaring people with his airship fleets and robot armies. Seriously, does the guy even know how clunky his robots are? They can fire a weapon, sure, but their movements are slow. Against an opponent with, oh I dunno, the use of his legs, they're next to worthless.

Ozpin must've told him about Amber at some point before I got back, cause when I finally told them everything I'd seen, they showed me the General's… Atlas' contribution to the fight. They actually built an aura transfer machine. They wanted to transfer whatever was left of Amber's aura into a new host. Oz called it his 'Guardian'. I called it insane. How can one person have two auras? What does that even do to a person, like philosophically? Wait… I know, let's put two brains in my head and just let them fight it out for a while. Sounds like a great idea. But people always said I'm too skeptical.

"...you? Nooooo…"

Ozpin told me about the existence of the maidens a long time ago. I've seen the powers transfer before my own eyes… mind you, not naturally. I'm just saying… the process is more complicated than that. Either there's some scientists in Atlas doing some really shady stuff, or there's a lot of guesswork involved. I can say this much for sure… we never got the chance to test it. If an aura transfer machine actually works, actually transfers an aura… and Atlas could build something capable of receiving a maiden's power, we might have had an opportunity… All too conveniently, Ironwood was testing the feasibility of how to design a vessel for those exact circumstances.

I'm not sure where you stand on playing god, but apparently Atlas is all about it. They made a synthetic person. A girl. It… she… could generate her own aura. Problem is, Ironwood didn't tell anybody. Literally, no one had even the slightest clue that this girl wasn't a real person. So we didn't know that until it was too late. He never said it, but I think those scientists would have loved the chance to attempt an aura transfer field test on the girl, or another like her… an empty shell, so to speak. The Iron-y... get it? like Ironwood?

"Don't quit your day job, Qrow."

You're no fun. Anyway, the irony is, that synthetic girl got torn to pieces by Ozpin's chosen guardian. Not intentionally. We realized not too long after that the girl responsible for Amber had created some kind of backdoor infrastructure to access every piece of technology connected to a centralized network. Probably the CCTS. That included things like the Tournament's randomization process, scrolls, live broadcasts… and the computerized components of the Atlesian military.

She hijacked the live broadcast of the Tournament, after forcing the world to watch one fighter 'kill' another one… Started to monologue about not being able to trust anybody or something. I don't know the specifics, I wasn't watching.

I got a message from Ozpin right as it was happening, so I hurried to the headmaster's chamber. Got there just in time for him to send me and Glynda away. To Vale. Not a decision I would have made, but to be fair, the Grimm were everywhere. People were dying, and I'm a huntsman. You get where I'm going with this. We did our best to defend Vale.

After a while, Ironwood made his way from the Coliseum where he had been watching his 'project' fight in the Tournament, to Vale. He took the scenic route, if you know what I mean. And remember that backdoor access point? Yeah, turns out every non-human Atlesian fighting unit was affected by it…. even a capital ship, apparently. I still don't know what that was about.

So let's recap.

"Yeah, you're hard to follow when you're drunk."

I'm always drunk.

"That's what they say..."

Glynda and I were in Vale, buried up to our eyes in Grimm. As we were fighting, what I can only describe as Grimmzilla flies overhead, seeding Vale with even more of those foul creatures. That's about the time Ironwood's personal ship crashed nearby. He's fine. Almost got eaten by a griffon. I don't wanna brag, but I kinda saved him. Please, hold your ticker tape parades. Then we had Ozpin, his guardian candidate, and a bunch of first and second year students fighting to regain control of Beacon against the Grimm, the White Fang, and the Atlesian Military… yeah, good luck with that one.

Ironwood asked me to go to Beacon and assist with the evacuations there, which I did. Glynda had to set up a perimeter for a safe zone in the city, which she did. The General insisted that he had to get to his ship, which in a comically poetic turn of events, crashed into the city behind us. Turns out he wanted to try to activate a shortwave radio antenna that his ships can use to communicate with each other.. Like in the old days. He wanted to piggyback our scrolls onto his radio signals, in case something happened to the CCTS. It was actually a really smart move. Way to earn those stars, big guy. To make a long story short, his ship was trashed, the antenna was useless. Major buzzkill.

For my part, I loaded up on an armored transport ship with a handful of 'Ironwood's finest', getting ready to depart for Beacon. Five minutes before takeoff, I get a message from Ozpin. "Check, attempting Stalemate". It's a little cryptic, but Oz always liked to refer to stuff within the context of a game of chess. It basically meant he was in trouble, or his guardian was in trouble. Either way, it was the last message I got from him before the CCTS shut down.

I tried to light a fire under the crew of my transport, but you know how Atlas operates, by the book. We finally took off, and my ship was almost at Beacon when this blinding light just kind of… stopped everything. I don't know how to explain it. The ship was fine, but everybody on board… we couldn't look away. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. But I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it. I had to find Ozpin.

* * *

"But first, I think I need another drink." he said to his attentive, one-person audience. She hadn't touched hers, so she passed it to Qrow. Taking a sip, he nearly gagged. "How can you still drink this garbage?"


	6. Bird's Eye - Part 2

Chapter 6: Bird's Eye: Part 2

It took him a solid five minutes to stomach the horrible sweetness of this… girly… red drink. His friend remained mostly quiet, preferring instead to just watch the weathered old huntsman. A long, low rumble from far overhead penetrated the ambient buzz that usually filled the tavern. As if someone had planned this moment, she turned to look out the window. Qrow noticed this, and turned in the same direction.

"Darkness is spreading throughout Remnant, how appropriate then, that a thunderstorm interrupts your story. Energy concentrated into brilliant flashes of light… surrounded by danger and the unknown." She said, ever so delicately describing the last moments of Qrow's tale.

"You read too many books. Or you don't get out enough. Probably both… aaaand it's been raining for… six hours." Qrow turned away from the window, looking at his friend, "How long have you been here? And how did you not notice me walk in here soaking wet?"

She let a quiet laugh slip, "Oh, Qrow. Some day you'll realize that the world doesn't revolve around you. But in the meantime, I need to watch my own back, when I'm not already watching yours."

"Not likely. My world revolves around me, and to be honest, I don't care much about many other people's worlds. " he said in a way that made his friend cringe a bit, even though she understood completely. "So, should I continue?"

She nodded in the affirmative, then waved the bartender over. "Another one for him... I'll have what he's having." Qrow's mouth hung slightly ajar for a moment. She continued, "You're going to end up drinking mine anyway, I figured I'd make it easy on you." He knew it was probably true, shaking his head slowly, smiling. Thankful that he'd be spared another round of red death, he wondered what chemicals it would take to remove the taste of the last drink from his mouth.

* * *

Our ship flew high, over the docks at Beacon. I could see the last of the evacuating students being loaded onto the last transport ship below. Part of my job was to help with the evacuation, but it looked like that was under control, so I made the decision to scrap that part of the mission. Honestly, I was more interested in the flash of light, and how I could help Ozpin. That's when things started to make...a lot less sense. I had been looking out of a side window on the ship, so when I turned to the front of the ship, I noticed all of the other soldiers crowded around the cockpit.

So remember that Grimmzilla from before? It was perched on top of the tower. Just sitting there. Perfectly still. I thought it was strange, but I'm not an expert on the behavior patterns of giant Grimm. The pilot, apparently... was. He told us that he wasn't bringing us any closer than that, so we sat down a few hundred yards from the tower.

When the co-pilot lowered the gate, it was like stepping onto a battlefield. It actually caught me off guard. The docks, where all of the students had gathered looked completely serene in comparison to this. There were bodies all over the place. Most of them were dressed in their White Fang garbs, but there were Atlesian soldiers, as well as those robots scattered in pieces everywhere. Some students must've been caught up in the melee, because some of the bodies wore school uniforms.

The victorious faction seemed to be the Grimm. There were no active White Fang Units around as far as I could tell. Several large packs roamed at the base of the tower, which was still a good distance away. Smaller groups were closer to our ship, and Ironwood's men set to clearing them out. None of us were really sure how to handle the big one on top of the tower. It just sat there as a grim reminder…No pun intended… that we weren't welcome here any more. It was a tangible feeling, though I couldn't put a finger on why. I'd spent the better part of the last week in and around Beacon, but this was the first time I felt like I was in any real danger.

Once some of the smaller Grimm were cleared out, I threw out some fancy hand signals to communicate to the other men to follow me. I did my best to look like I had actually led soldiers into battle before. Must've been convincing. The four or five soldiers felt like I knew what I was doing... Or they assumed that if they didn't follow, I'd drag them with me… Both accurate assumptions. To my surprise, they were actually capable enough to take down the smaller ones on their own. I took care of anything bigger than an Ursa.

"So how many did you lose?"

Please... I'm a professional… … ... Only one or two.

"Out of five? You're a monster."

Overruled. I'm a huntsman. The Grimm are the monsters... Anyway… it didn't take long, maybe ten minutes at the most, to clear a path to the base of the tower. The doors were closed, but not locked, so we made our way inside. The interior was a mess... And it was dark. Whenever the CCTS was taken offline, it must have also taken out the power to the building. I don't know, I'm not an electrician. The first thing to catch my attention was an entire elevator shaft that was warped out of its normal shape, everything within the shaft charred. It was the only elevator that had access to the vault. Figures. I approached the opened elevator doors, and peered over the edge. There was a faint glow coming from the exit at the bottom. It looked like fire, or maybe just the torches, but from that distance I couldn't tell.

I thought for a moment about how I was going to get down there. Not because I wasn't capable of some kind of close-quarters landing strategy, but the soldiers I was with? No way.

"You mean you didn't just shove them down the shaft?"

I didn't get a chance to. As I stared down at the glowing room hundreds of feet below me, I felt moisture fall on the back of my neck. My instincts kicked in, but the over-sized griffon was just too close. Must've been hiding right above me in the elevator shaft. It's my own stupid fault for not being more thorough. The force of its lunge tipped me off balance and into the elevator shaft. So now I was falling, great. As quickly as someone of my skill could manage, I unsheathed my weapon, sword form, and dug it into the wall of the elevator shaft. I probably stopped my fall about halfway down. The griffon must have fallen further down, unable to spread its wings to fly in the cramped quarters.

I called for the soldiers to see if I could get some help. No one responded. So I called out again. Nothing. A few moments passed before I saw the head of another, larger griffon peer over the edge, where I'd been mere moments before. It let out a loud screech. The echo was chilling, but not as chilling as the dozens of pairs of red eyes that lit up in the shaft above me. Apparently, these pests had chosen the elevator shaft to nest, or rest, or something else that rhymes with that. Infest?

"Are you going somewhere with that?"

No. I do these things just to aggravate you. Moving...along… I anticipated that I might have to ditch my weapon and drop down to get away from these things. I was right. All of them started to climb down the walls of the enclosure. I didn't think the Grimm learned very quickly, but I guess watching their comrade just fall to its death does that for you. I quickly tried to pry my sword free from the metal walls, but in the limited space available, I couldn't get enough leverage. The griffons were getting closer, so I let go of the hilt and tried to wall jump my way down. The warped frame made it a little easier to do, but it wasn't fast. Even still, the Grimm weren't as fast as crafty old Qrow. Redact that, I'm not old.

Then, my powers of observation kicked in. I cursed the poor timing of their activation, wishing it'd been two minutes sooner. The large griffon that came after me first wasn't lying dead below me. It had apparently survived the fall, crawled out the vault door, and was now blocking my exit. I could tell it had seen better days. The thing was not putting any weight on the right claw, its wings were all crooked, and some of it's claws were clearly broken. That's the good news. Here's the bad news. It was easily twice the size of the ones descending upon me. It screeched loudly, no more than five feet from my face. The saliva flew in my face. I think I even got some in my mouth. Still tasted better than your red death cocktails.

"I'll give you a red death…"

The way things looked for me, you almost wouldn't have to. I was like a fish in a barrel, cornered in that elevator. It lunged forward, head down, body stiff as a board. I think it tried to crush me against the back wall. I jumped straight up, out of the way. It was a great move, you should've seen it. I saw the griffon smash into the wall below me, then recoil in some combination of pain and anger. I landed just as it swiped at me with its left claw. I was able to parry it with my arm, but it took a lot out of me to block with no weapon. And the weight of a small griffon falling fifty feet onto my head took the rest out of me. Apparently it's true that young Grimm are stupid.

So here I am, on death's doorstep, not out of the fight, but pinned under a small griffon, with a very large one lining up a strike with it's beak. I saw it take one step back, ready to charge, quickly went over my options, and did the only thing I could. My left arm was free, so I reached into my pocket for my flask, and pitched it as hard as I could at it's face.

"Aren't griffons armored around their heads?"

Yeeeeeep. It was a heat of the moment thing. The griffon screeched again, as if to try to explain how stupid I was. But I'm not stupid. Stupid means not finishing your opponent when you had a chance. I was just about free from under the nearly dead Grimm lying on top of me when the big one reared back to its hind legs, intent on finishing me with those front claws. Then, it happened.

I'm enough of a man to admit that I have my shortcomings. I don't like to ask for help, so I usually don't. And in this case… well... I still didn't. but when the monster screeched again… still on its hind legs, it was a different tone. It wasn't saying "Hey, I beat you and you're gonna be dead soon", it was more like "Hey, I'm a big stupid horse bird cat thing that doesn't pay attention to its surroundings." It happened fast. Like 'I barely even saw it' fast. But my foe now had a rapier sticking through its mouth, and a young Schnee clutching to it's neck feathers. She used her signature glyphs to inflict a dozen more stab wounds on the beast, before quickly helping me lift the crippled griffon off of me. She activated her glyphs again to get us clear of the elevator doors in a hurry.

"You know, this means you owe me…like… big time.", Weiss said.

"Whatever you say..." I stopped myself. She's not the Ice Queen. What do I call her…? Ice Princess? Nah, that's really convoluted. Then it hit me. "...Wice."

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. You called her Wice? Like, W-I-C-E. That sounds exactly the same as her name."

"I know. It's just so perfect. She'll never even know how clever I'm being. But I'll know." Qrow said, clearly proud of himself. "Wice… Nice." He smiled silently for a moment, admiring his creativity. Then he heard a glass hit the bar counter.

"Sorry, I need to forget that one." His friend insisted, before starting into the second drink she'd ordered for him earlier. "If I remember… 'Wice'... in the morning, you've failed me as an enabler." She finished the second drink. "Two more barkeep, Thank you." Then turned back to Qrow, "Where were we…?"

* * *

She blinked, several times. "Did you actually just call me Weiss? I didn't think you had it in you to be civilized." the heiress said, still visibly surprised.

I smiled and shrugged, but not for the reasons she probably assumed. "I'd take some time to thank you, but there's more of those things coming."

"Right!" She responded. Clearly she liked my new nickname for her. Wice ran to the elevator door, and planted her rapier in the ground, creating a wall of ice large enough to cover the entrance. "That should hold them until we can talk about some… things…" I thought I was going to have to give her 'the talk' until she reached behind her back to her weapon holster, and things got really serious. "Here… I found this down here... I don't know what it means, but I think… I think… I…" She put her head down and her hands out, clearly trying to hide her anguish as she handed me Oz's cane.

The snarky smile I had from before vanished in an instant. "Where did you get this?" I thought about the weight of what I'd just asked, and instead put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. We're safe down here now. Everything's gonna be alright."

She looked up, still clearly distressed. "Nothing is alright!" she cried, "Wherever we are, this place, is a nightmare!" I met her eyes as she finished her thought. For no more than a second, we shared a gaze, before she turned her head and just looked down the long hallway.

I looked past her, and learned exactly why I didn't feel welcome there any more. Past the younger Schnee, past all of the side corridors and pillars… I saw her. Resting silently, but not peacefully. A single arrow piercing her chest.

* * *

"Checkmate"


	7. Bird's Eye - Part 3

Chapter 7: Bird's Eye - Part 3

"Nobody really knows what happened to Oz that night," Qrow continued. "There were obvious signs of struggle. The floor was cracked or broken in several places. Most notably, the marble appeared to have been heated to its melting point, before cooling again. In another place, the floor was smashed in a near perfect semi-sphere."

"It's almost funny. No matter how many fights you see, no matter how many battlefields you visit… every single one tells a story. But not this one. This one... would never give up its secrets. After all, the fight wasn't over yet. Sure. Maybe Ozpin lost to that woman. Maybe all of his carefully laid plans were for not. Maybe he realized the sheer scale of what we were up against. But maybe… just maybe, all of this was calculated. Every word he said, every step he took, timed down to the millisecond. That's who Ozpin was. I don't think the guy ever made a choice in his life without knowing the exact outcome of it... his role in it. He was never surprised by anything, never left speechless, never backed into a corner he didn't have a way out of."

"You think he's alive somewhere?", she inquired, unable, or maybe unwilling to follow Qrow's train of thought.

Qrow didn't hesitate, "It's tough to say. There's no logical reason that he should be. But I don't think a single ounce of my body believes he's gone. Could be denial, but I don't think so. Something about all of this just doesn't add up. The answers are out there. And I'm gonna find them."

"Why, though? Why not just let it go? Blaze your own path, forge your own destiny?"

Scowling, he insisted, "I'm not like you. I believe in the things I learned from Oz. I said I didn't care about most other people's worlds… and I meant that. But there are people worth living for. Worth fighting for. Worth… dying for. I almost bit the dust in an elevator shaft. But a girl who I pushed aside by her face when I first met her, saved me. That's the kind of qualities that every human, never mind huntsman, should exude. I think deep down, you believe that."

"Is that how this is going to go, Qrow? I come for the stories and the good company, but I could do without the brainwash." she said, clearly irritated. "If you're done telling your stories, I'll pay for the drinks and be on my way."

"That's it... just leave. Like you did before. Like you always do."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from Qrow, laid an ample amount of lien on the counter for all of the drinks and tips, and turned to leave.

Qrow watched her as she walked toward the door. "You know, she's going to come find you one day. And I'm not going to hold her back. I think she deserves to know why she didn't get to grow up knowing her mom."

Raven stopped in her tracks… briefly, before turning back to her brother. She walked back to the counter clearly irritated, but calmly sat back down. She didn't get to speak before Qrow continued, "I gave her your message... She wasn't happy that I knew about you and never told her. She had a rough few days there towards the end at Beacon… but she's going to come back stronger than ever. It'll just take time."

"Oz believed in these kids, and he was right to. They're our future. Yeah, they have some growing up to do. That's gonna happen fast... I think the end of the world has that effect on people. For now... I'm going to finish my story, and you're going to listen. Even if you don't think you believe in the good in people, I think you do, and that's why you need to hear this."

* * *

It felt like I was paralyzed. Weiss turned back to me. She looked like she wanted me to tell her that none of this was real. I kept trying to think of ways to make all of it into a comprehensible story for someone who had no idea about any kind of maidens or secret societies or soul-transfer machines. The words just weren't there. I knew that Amber's assailant was the same girl from the first attack. The glass arrow was all the evidence I needed to figure that out. I was deep in thought, trying to piece together a convincing cover-up for all of this, when Weiss just collapsed to her knees, a completely defeated look in her eyes. "It wasn't supposed to be like this… I shouldn't be down here. I'm supposed to be helping my friends…"

I did my best to be the 'comforting father-figure', until I realized that she didn't have one of those. So I went with 'reassuring Uncle Qrow'. I took a knee next to her and gave her my best pep talk. "Listen, Weiss, your friends are safe. On my way here I saw the last of the students piling into the transport ship at the docks. There's a safe zone in Vale. Glynda's there, Ironwood's there. It's gonna be fine." She looked up at me like I was crazy. Should've gone with 'comforting father figure'.

"You… don't know what's going on here… do you…?" she asked with a whimper. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I was trying to formulate the world's most elaborate lie about Ozpin and the Fall Maiden, and Weiss tells me that I'm out of the loop.

So I played along as best I could, "Judging by the tone of your voice, I feel like I might have missed something, yeah."

She explained about her team's reunion at the docks. Yang lost everything from the elbow down, trying to save Blake. Blake was stabbed through the abdomen by some kind of crazy ex-boyfriend. Ruby was fine, physically, but she was an emotional wreck. I don't know how she can suppress it like that. It makes me wonder what else she's keeping bottled up… Weiss went on to explain the stand that she and members of several other teams made against those Paladins, and the toll it took on everyone.

Two of the kids from JNPR were too beaten to stand up, but they insisted that their other two teammates were still out there. Of course, Ruby doesn't know how to not be the hero, so she went out to search for them. Weiss wouldn't let her go alone. Their search took them to the tower where that dragon was circling. One of the missing members, Jaune, eventually contacted Weiss. He was hysterical, and with a blatant disregard for his own well being, insisted that Weiss save Pyrrha. Ms. Nikos, Ozpin's candidate for the guardian project, was up on top of the tower. Fighting… the Fall Maiden. The two girls agreed to try to push through the Grimm and save her.

I started to piece things together. I was familiar with Jaune after watching plenty of team Juniper's fights as part of Ozpin's selection process for his guardian. He's not much in a fight. But somehow, he knew about the girl with the maiden's powers. He must have been in the vault at some point to understand the magnitude of what was happening. Pyrrha Nikos was the best fighter to attend the academy… maybe ever. But without help, it's a pretty safe bet she never had a chance.

The thing that didn't make sense to me was the dragon. As far as I knew, It was still on top of the tower, so what did that mean? Weiss told me that she had seen it fly straight into the top of the tower. She and Ruby had to dodge huge chunks of steel and concrete, while fighting off seemingly endless hordes of Grimm. They decided that in order to get to Pyrrha in time, they needed a new plan. So after a few minutes of this exercise in futility, Weiss used her glyphs to make a path up the side of the tower for Ruby, who used her semblance to ascend it as quickly as possible. That was the last time Weiss had seen Ruby.

She was chased into the lobby of the tower by the overwhelming concentration of Grimm. Before she was able to slam the door behind her, Weiss saw the same flash of light that I saw earlier. She told me it had a more serious and lasting effect on the Grimm than it did on my transport ship crew. The monsters just kind of stopped. To her, they seemed dazed or disoriented.

She explained how the power was off in the lobby of the tower even when she entered. That meant that the only way up to the roof was by going back outside, which she wasn't about to do. I don't blame her, considering the wall of Grimm outside the doors. Weiss wanted to try to climb the elevator shaft to help Ruby and Pyrrha, but it turns out she's a better huntress than I am. Huntsman. Uhh, whatever. She saw the griffons above her, and assumed that they were drawn to whatever negative energy was being given off at the top of the tower. Smart girl.

That got me to thinking, which got me to worrying. What was happening up there that caused creatures of Grimm to be drawn so close in such heavy concentrations? I was scared, sis. Like, actually scared. Not of whatever was up there, but I knew where Ruby had been going the last time Weiss saw her. I think she could tell that I was alarmed at the thought… and I think she felt the same way.

She started to explain that she came down to the vault because it was the only other way for her to go, and how when she got down here, all she found was Ozpin's cane, and a dead girl. I was pretty much caught up on that part, so I interjected, "Weiss, I need my weapon."

"What are you going to do?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

I told her anyway, "I need to know what happened at the top of that tower. I need to know where Ruby is, and what happened to cause that flash." I have more respect for that girl than I do for most of my colleagues. Despite everything she'd been through that night, she didn't waste a second getting back to her feet, and loading a fire dust cartridge into her rapier. At her age, I was more concerned with picking up… never mind. She's got the heart of a warrior. While the ice melted, I was left with the realization that I was still holding Ozpin's cane. I mean, I knew it was his weapon, but I had no idea how to use it. I figured I'd improvise.

The griffons started to crawl through as soon as the ice was melted enough for them to fit. It's like I said, young Grimm are really dumb. The space they were trying to squeeze through was barely big enough for one. We basically double-teamed them, one at a time until they stopped coming. Weiss did a lot of the work, but I did the best I could with my 'get off my lawn' impression, defeating the forces of evil with a cane. Turns out, that thing is really solid. When we were sure they were done coming in, I shattered what was left of the ice… switching to my best 'six iron' impression. If Oz was watching from somewhere, he probably wasn't amused.

I started to try to scale the wall up to where I could faintly make out the outline of my sword. That was about the same time I heard Weiss start to laugh behind me. That's it, we're going back to Wice. And she's being promoted to Ice Queen, because she's really, really good at brushing off emotional adversity. "Do you do everything the hard way?" she asked. "You do realize that I can use my glyphs to make this a lot easier on the both of us, right?"

She wasn't wrong. It was much easier to gain the proper leverage when I could effectively stand on a vertical wall. Full disclosure, I did manage to hit my elbow against the opposite wall when my weapon finally came loose, couldn't feel my pinky finger for an hour.

"You poor baby," Raven interjected.

I stopped briefly at the lobby level, and found the remains of the three soldiers I had come in with. This time, I looked up, and noticed the large atrium above me. The griffon was probably hiding up there all along. We walked right past it. I made mistakes and it cost good men their lives. I guess you're never too old to learn. Not that I'm old, because I'm not. No one's saying that.

Weapon in hand, I had Weiss create us a path to the top of the elevator shaft. It was dark, but more noticeably, it got… somehow more quiet, the closer we got. I could see light coming in from a hole in the bottom of the elevator car. It wasn't a big hole, but I took a chance, and leapt through it, ready for anything.

My heart was racing. I could hear it beating, and that was it. There was no other sound. It was like being underwater. The elevator doors were partially closed, and I couldn't see much through the opening. Weiss climbed through the hole behind me. Together, we pried the doors open… and felt the color drain from my face. I saw Ruby laying there, face down in a pile of rubble. Before I could even think, Weiss, who evidently hadn't stopped to take stock of the situation, ran out into the room, then froze in apparent fear. I took a more cautious approach after my incident in the lobby. I looked up, and saw what I can only describe as fear incarnate.

The dragon was still perched above us. But it didn't move. It didn't make a sound. It sat there like a statue. A trophy. A reminder that humanity was no match for the power of the darkness that conspired against it.

I don't know what fatherly instinct came over me after that. I assessed the threat posed by the dragon, and didn't care what the result was. I ran into the room past Weiss, straight for Ruby. I slid to my knees as I got close, and rolled her over into my arms. She seemed almost comatose at first. "It's alright. I gotcha kiddo. I gotcha," I assured her. She didn't respond at all, but I could tell from her breathing that she was stable. The blood was returning to my head, which meant that my brain must have also returned to its normal operation. Ruby was alive.

When I turned to Weiss, I noticed that she hadn't moved an inch from where she stood before. The only difference was that her hand was now cupped over her mouth, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. I tried to call out to her, but she just, wasn't there. Still holding Ruby in my arms, I tried to follow her gaze across the room. I stopped when I saw it. A bronze colored headpiece… a tiara, resting on the ground.

I didn't move, remaining fixated on the headpiece for some time, before Weiss walked back into focus. I didn't noticed her pick it up, but she now carried a bronze shield along with her rapier. She slowly knelt down across the room from me, and inspected the tiara, still afraid to touch it. The two of us collected our thoughts for a few moments before she turned back to me, tears still welling in her eyes. "I… don't know how to tell him," she cried aloud. "I told him I'd save her…"

There wasn't much I could say to her that would console her. So I tried the truth. "Weiss... Listen... There's a specific reason this all happened. Ozpin, your headmaster, believed that a day would come when all of us would have to choose a side. To fight, or succumb to the enemies of Remnant. Pyrrha knew, and was willing to accept these risks, to accept her destiny, for better or for worse. I think she may have forged the path that saves us all. Especially Jaune. It's going to be brutally difficult for him to accept this, but Pyrrha wanted him to live on. To carry on the memory of a better time. It's up to people like you, like me, like Jaune and Ruby and Yang to follow the path that Pyrrha laid. It won't be easy, and it won't be without danger. But it's the way I'm going to honor her… by fighting until there's no fight left in me… by never resting in the search to find answers to the questions that the world is afraid to ask. Pyrrha didn't die for nothing, Weiss. She died for what she believed in, for the people she loved and wanted to protect. Whether she knew it or not, she WAS destiny."

For a moment, there was a somber silence in the air. Weiss broke the eye contact that we had shared for the duration of my speech, and returned her contemplative gaze to the tiara in front of her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she finally summoned the courage to pick it up. She inspected it for a moment before delicately attaching it to her belt. I finally stood up, still holding Ruby, and slowly walked over to Weiss. She grasped Ruby's hand, and looked back up to me. "Thank You, Qrow."

It was only after that I could start to piece together what really happened that night on the tower, from an old legend Oz told me. I saw the signs. The silver eyes, the selflessness, the unchecked anguish built up inside of her... Just like her mom. That's why we have to fight to protect these kids. They're going to save the world some day. It doesn't matter how bad things get, as long as they can give us hope, I know... and Oz knew... that they could turn the tide... bring us back from the brink of defeat. They can be our guardians.

* * *

They had been at the Foam Anchor for most of the night. Almost all of the patrons were cleared out. Qrow thought about how these conversations were so unique. Two opposites sharing every bit of wisdom and folly in complete confidentiality. At least, that was the arrangement. They both knew that the other would let something slip here or there, but neither would be compromised by it. Although they weren't regular meetings by any stretch, the tradition was maintained at the request of either party. For the most part, it was just to clear their minds of whatever was ailing them. A meeting for two siblings to open up to each other…

Two siblings, living impossibly different lives, but yet sharing in the experiences of the other. Testing one another, keeping themselves sharp. Becoming stronger and smarter along the way. A brother that believed each and every one of us lives and dies for a predetermined reason. A sister, determined to defy her own existence. Each knowing that the other would never falter in their resolve.

They parted ways like they always did, walking to the door together, then splitting in opposite directions with nothing more than a nod and a smile. Qrow always held out hope that one day his sister would come to accept her destiny, whatever that was. In the meanwhile, all he could do was focus on the things that mattered most to him.

As he walked past the final window before the end of the building, he peered back inside at the seats they'd shared moments before, and the last patron sitting in a booth in the corner, only her umbrella to keep her company. Qrow wondered, again, if there would ever be a time when they could stop meeting like this.


	8. Dear Diary

Chapter 8: Dear Diary

Weiss unwrapped the blue ribbon that was so perfectly tied in a bow around her tiny white book. It was a secret she kept closer to her than any personal relationship she'd ever had. It was a childhood friend. It was a father who spent his evenings with her after work. Now, it was a way to cope with the tragedy that had befallen not only herself, but her entire world. She sat down on one of the benches in the armored transport ship, her legs shaking. It was now twelve hours since her last meal which, coincidentally, wasn't a meal at all. Coffee had it's benefits, but sustaining oneself for half of a day at a time was not one of them. In those twelve hours, Weiss had been completely drained. Physically. Emotionally. Every sound was muffled, every vision blurred.

Qrow was near the front of the ship, where a makeshift bed fashioned from blankets and extra articles of clothing had been sprawled out for the still unconscious Ruby. Her small frame was so still, so peaceful. But Weiss knew from the experience of lugging her down an elevator shaft, that she wasn't as small and frail as she looked. The soldiers who had remained behind to protect the transport reported very limited contact with the Grimm. Qrow lamented the fates of the other soldiers, taking the complete responsibility for their deaths.

Turning back to her secret, Weiss struggled with trying to unravel the bow that had been so delicately formed on the front of the book. Her hands shook, and the memories of the last night raced around her mind. She wasn't sure how to organize them into words. Not now, anyway. Everything was too fresh, too raw. Nonetheless, she managed to break into her secret book. It opened up to the middle, as books tend to do, marked by the staples pushed through all of the pages, into the spine. For no reason at all, Weiss began to read.

* * *

Dear Diary,

It's finally happened! I got a letter in the mail today confirming my acceptance to Beacon Academy. The groundskeepers were clearly baffled by my insistence upon personally retrieving my family's mail every day, but efforts to keep my intention to enroll at the academy a secret came second to none. The only ones that know are myself, Winter and of course, you. Father would not be pleased if he knew. His preference would always be for me to follow in his footsteps. His company comes before everything. It is his first love. No, his only love. Perhaps some day I can hope to underst-

* * *

She slammed the small book shut. The presence looming over her was by no means subtle, but Weiss was basically only awake because her mind was too busy processing everything to allow her to sleep. "Whatcha got there?" Qrow inquired. He knew it wasn't his business, but he intended to make sure that Weiss was coping well with everything that had fallen on to her shoulders.

"It's a day planner. For… planning my days." She could practically see the words stumbling out of her mouth. Weiss immediately wished that she could pull the sounds back inside and try again.

Qrow clearly understood what the book was, but didn't have interest in trying to pry its secrets away. "Rrrriiiight. I just wanted you to know that I probably owe you my life from earlier today. And by extension, Ruby does too. So, if you ever need anything, just know that you can count on me to help. I don't do this for everybody, but to be fair, everybody doesn't do what you did for me. Sound good?"

This kind of conversation with Qrow didn't surprise Weiss anymore. Back in the courtyard at Beacon, she'd thought he was just some rogue huntsman with no civility or class. Through their shared experiences, she now considered him to be a close friend. An uncle, maybe. "I was just doing what any honorable huntress would do in that situation." She smiled, "But since you offered, I'll keep your proposition in mind. Thank you."

Everyone was finally fastened in, save for those choosing to stand, so the ship lifted off the ground, pivoted and began its reasonably short journey to Vale. Weiss had been one of those choosing to forego the safety buckles, instead opting to lay on her bench. Her hands were still shaking. As she inspected them, she noticed that they were covered in dirt. Upon further analysis, her combat skirt was smudged and frayed at the bottom, and the pure white sheen of her heels was worn away. "This is the life we chose," she reiterated as she re-opened her now dirt-smeared book to a random page.

* * *

Dear Diary,

Beacon is amazing. As in, the school is amazing. As in, the people… not so much. I think one girl actually tried to kill me today on the grounds. She triggered one of my dust cartridges-

* * *

"I'm SUCH an IDIOT," Qrow shouted from across the ship, to no one in particular. Weiss sat herself up to see what all the fuss was about, and noticed the huntsman patting himself down from head to toe. In her haze, she wasn't sure what he was doing, but it clicked when Qrow put his head in his hands and sat silently, defeated.

She took a pen that was always nestled away in her belt compartment, and flipped to the last page of her 'day planner'. She would be making a quick entry.

* * *

Dear Diary,

Qrow lost his flask in that basement. I'll see about getting him a new one as thanks for helping me through the horrors of the last few hours.

* * *

Weiss closed her book, and looked around the cabin for a moment. The mood was somber. The only sound coming from the handful of soldiers on board was the clatter of their weapons and equipment coming together in the turbulent miracle that they had come to know as flight. Qrow had reluctantly taken a canteen from one of the soldiers. She was unsure if he had asked the soldier first, but it wasn't important. They would be in Vale soon, and then things would be better. She reconsidered. Better probably wasn't a good choice of words. Things would become clearer. That was more realistic.

She looked down towards her team's leader, still not certain what had happened to poor Ruby that she was in such a critical condition. Against the will of every fiber of her being, Weiss decided that she had to get herself up and walk over to Ruby. There was something she had to do. The turbulence was negligible, but the exhaustion in her legs amplified it significantly. At the end of the longest thirteen foot journey in recorded history, Weiss lay down next to Ruby. She wasn't on the makeshift cot, there wasn't enough space. Instead, she took up residence on the cold metal floor. With one hand, she reached for her tiny book, and began to leaf through the pages. With her free hand, she brushed Ruby's hair out of her face, and took her hand.

"You need to hear this one."

* * *

Dear Diary,

You... are a book. Your composition is of paper, leather and staples. I dress you with a bow, but it does not define you. Though you have always been there for me, I cannot consider you a friend. Friend. That word. It has haunted me for years. The one thing that no amount of money or influence could bring me. My last name is both a gift and a curse. With it, comes fame, fortune and power. But I experienced only loneliness, sadness and fear. I am a Schnee, but it does not define me.

By enrolling at Beacon, I set out to prove to the world that being a Schnee means more than money and power. I wanted to make sure that my name could be synonymous with more than a dust empire. In truth, I want nothing more than to light up the shadow that my father's company cast over me. As I've learned, being a huntress means more than fighting the good fight and catching the bad guys. I have to fight for more than my own motivations. I have to fight because my team needs me to fight. I have to fight because the people I love need me to fight. My… friends… need me to fight.

Friends. There's that word again. Now it has substance to me. The bonds I've formed with the people around me make us stronger. Blake, Yang, Ruby… the three of you are the friends I never had. I wouldn't trade the our shared experiences for the world. Each of you holds a special place in my heart.

Blake, you are a Freedom Fighter. Your composition is reconciliation, experience and intensity. You fight to correct the injustices of your past. You wear a bow, but it does not define you. Our heritage separates us, but our differences only forge a stronger friendship between us. You keep me grounded in reality, honest to a fault.

Yang, you are Passion. Your composition is strength, adventure and energy. You watch over us like a mother bird watches over her young. Your beauty sustains you, but it does not define you. Your true character is shown through unbreakable willpower and the compassion you show for the rest of your team.

Ruby, you are a Leader. Our leader. Your composition is loyalty, kindness and understanding. But you embody so much more than just that. You push ahead when the rest back away. You're the first to jump headlong into a fight. All of your crazy plans end up being the best course of action. There is no other person I would rather have as a leader and as a friend.

So, Diary, I'm afraid that your time as my closest friend has come and gone. I cherish the time that we spent together, but my life has become an open book now. I can no longer keep myself wrapped in a bow and locked up in secrecy. I owe myself more than that. I owe my team more than that. I owe the world... more than that.

* * *

She had written that entry upon their return from Mountain Glenn, after the incident in Vale. Weiss was unsure if Ruby was receptive to any of this in her current state, but she didn't really care. There was a fear inside of her that for some reason, this could be the last chance Weiss had to open up to her teammate about the influence she'd had on her previously uptight, sniveling self. Just to be sure, she carefully tore the page out of her little book, wrapped it in the blue ribbon that had adorned her old best friend, and tucked it behind Ruby's belt. Now she'd know. One way or the other.

The reading had a therapeutic effect. Her mind was at ease, if only because she wasn't thinking about the tribulations of the past few hours. She knew there would be difficult times ahead, but for now her main focus was to do whatever she could to help her friend. Her singular focus allowed her to finally close her eyes. Still holding Ruby's hand in her own, Weiss finally allowed herself to rest.


	9. Ironclad

Chapter 9: Ironclad

The cool, early morning air didn't seem to bother General Ironwood. Not because he had donned a new set of military attire, but more likely because he didn't care about the temperature right now. He paced back and forth atop the roof of the small hospital that functioned as the headquarters for the coalition force of the Atlesian Military and Vale's remaining defensive forces. Moments like this were incredibly rare. The steely veteran never took time away from his work. Even the so called recreational activities, like spectating tournament fights, came with a catch. The tactician in him would not forgive a missed opportunity to gather critical combat data from his nation's formerly well-kept secret. The thought made him cringe.

That woman from the broadcast... The things she'd said about hiding military ambition under the guise of a young girl… It had never been his, or anyone else's intention to infiltrate anything by utilizing Penny. Such a tactic would have been shrewd, in a pinch, but these were times of peace. Or… they had been. Now it was all up in the air. The CCTS was crippled. Short-range radio transmissions were the only form of communication available to him outside of hand-delivered messages. Scrolls were designed to work almost exclusively with the CCTS. He was no tech specialist, but Ironwood was pretty sure that they would need some kind of software update to work as radios. That would take time, if it was possible at all.

Although it hadn't risen yet, the red glow of the morning sun cast an eerie light over the horizon. Activity in Vale had died down in the last hours of darkness. The last of the transport ships was accounted for when it arrived full of students who had received startling injuries. They were all still being treated or evaluated by any available doctors based on the severity of their injury. The thought of so many students, civilians, faculty and servicemen being wounded or killed made Ironwood clench his fist. No amount of troops or warships could have prevented this. He had been played like a fool. So many of the units he'd brought to protect Vale were just… stolen away… turned against him. He recognized what this would look like from an outside perspective. Confusion? Deception? Invasion?

Ironwood knew he was fortunate, even in this mess, to have the trust of some of the most powerful individuals in Vale. Glynda, Qrow… even Ozpin respected him as an equal. Qrow was easily his harshest critic, but he knew the truth about the Atlesian units. He was a professional. Even though they'd had their differences, they could function as allies. Without a second thought, Qrow had saved him from a giant griffon that was bearing down on him from behind. Even with these small comforts in the back of his mind, the General couldn't help but question the fate of Qrow and Ozpin. All of the ships were accounted for, save for the one Qrow had taken back to Beacon… and that was hours ago.

This single night felt like a few months worth of time passing. The last time Ironwood was in contact with anyone other than Glynda was at the crash site in Vale. He'd issued orders to all of them before heading off himself to take inventory of the situation at the site of the warship he'd seen go down.

Finally done with pacing, the General put his hands on the ledge at the end of the building and looked down at all of the activity below. The flurry of movement he observed was in stark contrast to the scene aboard his last remaining warship.

* * *

It took him longer than expected to make the journey. Ironwood was driven to get to that ship. Of course, he wanted to ascertain the fate of his crew, but he also needed to send a distress message back to Atlas. His warships were modern, with many levels of redundancies built into them. Principal among these was a powerful radio antenna built into the nose section of the ship. It wasn't necessary as long as the ships stayed within reasonable range to the CCTS towers, but for extended expeditions, it was the only way to get a message out. If it had survived the crash, the antenna could be repurposed as a hub for anyone in, or even near Vale. It was hardly ideal, but it was a far better alternative than what was effectively walkie talkies.

His hope was quickly dashed upon arriving at the crash site. He'd seen the ship crash from a distance. It appeared to impact nose first, but he had to be sure. So, he trekked across Grimm-ridden city blocks until the massive warship was in front of him. Ironwood had spent years around these ships. They always looked bigger from the ground. Not that he was used to seeing them like this, just that they were much more intimidating from up close.

In this case, intimidating was not the best descriptor for the pile of burning scrap metal in front of him. He'd been correct in his analysis of the ship's crash. Nose first. If the crushed front-half of the ship wasn't enough of an indication of its condition, then the fires put any lingering doubt to rest. Either way, Ironwood needed to get on that ship. He had to be sure.

There was a gaping hole just forward of the command deck, on top of the ship. Any substantial impact in that location would most likely have disabled the antenna, directional controls, and most probably the dust reactors powering the ship. Outside of internal system damage, most of the window panes surrounding the command deck were shattered, so the General would be able to get inside that way. And so he did. It wasn't overwhelmingly difficult to climb up the side of a metal warship, especially considering what his arm was made out of.

The scene inside was… staggering. Emergency power was still active, but the red hue emanating from the secondary lights established a haunting atmosphere. There were a few lifeless bodies scattered across the deck. The ships were huge. But during times of peace, and for a general display of power, such as what the Atlesian military had been employing, only a skeleton crew was required to operate the ship. Even still, it was clear that these men had been attacked. They were not killed in the crash.

Ironwood quickly moved toward the main computer. It was the only interactive console kept online by emergency power. He attempted to access the antenna controls, then the dust reactor. The guidance controls would be useless from the ground, so he didn't bother. The computer couldn't communicate with any other systems. The ship was completely out of commission. He cursed the way things had come to pass, before promptly switching to the next item on his mental checklist, his personal quarters.

Being unsure of the intentions of the people responsible for commandeering the ship, he had to make sure that any sensitive information was secured. This included encryption and decryption codes, as well as the names and ranks of high-value Atlas personnel. He quickly located and procured the documents he required. They were left exactly the way he'd filed them. While in his chambers, the General quickly retrieved his formal military attire. He'd change later, but at some point he would need to look a little less… beaten. Only one thing was left to do. The prisoner.

Roman Torchwick had been captured after attempting to destroy Vale with the cooperation of the White Fang, utilizing the Grimm as a spearhead for the attack. Interrogation tactics were useless. The man was not capable of honest, meaningful conversation. Instead, he used sarcasm and stall tactics to antagonize his captors. As Ironwood made his way through the red-lit halls of his former bastion of strength, he considered the conceivable ways that Torchwick could have escaped. There was no way to be completely sure that he was behind this, but it was the possibility that made the most sense. His assumptions were confirmed upon arrival to the detainment pod. Roman was gone, no trace of him anywhere. Again, Ironwood cursed the events of this day.

* * *

His focus was broken by the first rays of direct sunlight hitting the roof from over the horizon. The warmth was welcome, but with it came the light of day. With the light came the realization of the sheer magnitude of the crisis in Vale. The choice to establish the hospital building as a headquarters for the safe zone had been hastily made. It was small, and couldn't accommodate all of the people displaced by the circumstances of the previous day. Some had taken to finding shelter in the grounded transport ships. Others were slumped against whatever they could find for support, attempting to get some rest. The General shook his head in disbelief. This was a civilized nation. These people did not deserve to be relegated to the level of the average rodent. At this moment, a message runner appeared behind him with news from below. With very few working radios and scrolls that were more useful as paperweights, this is what they had resorted to.

"Sir, the head surgeon reports that the last of the critically wounded have been stabilized. There were… some casualties… during the course of the night, but everyone currently under our supervision is in a stable condition," the runner concluded.

Ironwood turned to face the messenger. "Thank you, I'm glad to hear that we've helped all that we can. What's done is done. The casualties are… unacceptable… but at the same time out of our hands. You are dismissed." The General watched the runner turn to head back inside, before stopping him. "Young man. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to visit some of the more seriously wounded patients. Can you take me to them?" He decided that he'd spent enough time pacing on the roof. Until he heard from Qrow or Ozpin, he'd do his best to raise the morale of those within the safe zone.

The two made their way down a flight of stairs and through a double door, moving to their right down a long hallway. "Room 226," the messenger started. "She's the last one that the surgeons helped. I guess she was on the last ship to arrive." Ironwood had been busy planning with Glynda during the night. As such, he hadn't been able to observe the arrival of each individual ship.

The General dismissed the messenger again, after acquiring a list of room numbers that he could visit to try to be of some moral support. He knocked, waited, then opened the door after a moment of silence. Apparently, the occupant was still caught off guard. He recognized her, but it took a moment for his weary mind to process her name, and to call into question why she was standing at the end of the bed in what seemed to be a trance. "Miss… Belladonna? Are you… feeling alright?" he asked, stepping further into the room.

A few more steps revealed the true nature of the situation. This wasn't Blake's room. The General's gaze was immediately drawn to the patient's vibrant golden hair, then to the bandage on her right arm, or what was left of it. He then noticed that she was asleep. Blake looked down, then turned to Ironwood, "Fine," she said. "Just checking in on her. I was about to leave, anyway."

"I don't mean to impose, she's your teammate. I don't want to-" She cut him off.

"Really, I was just about to get out of here. The rest of my team is still out there somewhere, and I don't want to cause any more trouble." She walked demonstratively past the General with her head down the whole way, then ran back towards the stairs leading down.

When she was out of sight, Ironwood looked back at Yang. He had no idea what could have happened to her. "Her… arm," he thought to himself, slowly moving to the opposite side of the room. Having a seat on the vacant bed, he looked at his own arm, then back to Yang, "I'm sorry that this happened..." He removed his glove, revealing the cybernetic hand. "But it's not the end for you. I can't speak for what did or did not happen back in that tournament, but I promise that when you're ready, you're going to come back stronger than ever." He stood up again and looked toward the window. The sun had risen enough now that it was beginning to light up the whole room. Ironwood moved to the window with the intention of blocking the sun so that the injured young huntress could rest without distraction.

As he pulled the curtain closed, the low hum of a transport ship became audible, accompanied by a slight rumble. He looked out the unblocked portion of the window for the source. Before he could find it, two soldiers ran past the door to the room, towards the stairs. The curtain was closed completely now, and Ironwood began to walk briskly toward the door, whilst pulling his white glove back over his exposed metal hand. A third soldier came around the corner, trailing a significant distance behind his comrades. He noticed the General closing the door to the room and promptly stopped to offer a salute. "General, an armored transport ship is closing in from the direction of Beacon. It bears the insignia of the Atlesian Military. Judging by the trajectory, I think it's going to land on the roof."

The General nodded. "I see. Go, find Glynda, and inform her that Qrow and Ozpin will be arriving momentarily. We'll need to debrief them about last night's events." The soldier responded in the affirmative, saluted again, and headed back down to search for Professor Goodwitch. Ironwood moved with a purpose now, back in the direction from which he originally came.

He emerged from the access door on the roof in time to see the transport ship line up its final approach. A dozen soldiers were already gathered near the soon-to-be landing site. The lieutenant in charge of the men clearly understood Atlesian Debriefing Procedures. Ironwood ordered the soldiers to clear a path to his and Glynda's planning room down on the first floor. No one was to be allowed into the halls.

As the ship's hatch opened, the General made eye contact with Qrow, as he held the unconscious young Ruby in his arms. The look that they exchanged said everything that needed to be said about the outcome of the mission.

Ironwood sighed, almost ashamed of what he had to do. "I need everyone on board this ship to come with me. Debriefing procedures begin immediately."


	10. Postmortem

Chapter 10: Postmortem

Eleven people occupied a room originally designed to serve as a break room for the small hospital staff, maybe two or three at a time. There were not enough chairs for everyone to sit, so those who were the most able would stand. Despite strong protest from Weiss and Qrow, even Ruby was forced to attend. Currently, she was resting her head on on a rolled up blanket, covered by the cloak that Qrow had donated to the cause. Her contributions would be limited on account of the unconsciousness. Outside the room, a half dozen soldiers stood on either side of the door, acting as security until the conclusion of the event.

The door opened briefly, and General Ironwood stepped into the room with a transcriber in tow. "Anybody else?" Qrow jeered, clearly upset at the conditions in the room, but more so about his his niece's treatment.

"Now is not the time Qrow," Ironwood snapped back. "This can seem like an unnecessary process, but because of the Atlas-sanctioned nature of the mission, it must be conducted." He paused for a moment, reviewing the debriefing procedures again in his mind. "First, we need a head count. I'll need everyone to state their name for the record." So they did. Glynda, Qrow, Weiss, Qrow again, but as Ruby this time, five soldiers who had survived the mission, a transport ship pilot, co-pilot, General Ironwood and a transcriber. "Good. Thank you. Next, I will need a synopsis of the mission's objective. As its leader, I'll leave that part to you, Qrow," the General instructed.

"Sure thing Jimmy," Qrow turned to the transcriber, "You've got to do that word for word, right?" He nodded in the affirmative. "Well, this might not be so bad after all... The mission was twofold. Numero uno, assist in the evacuation of Beacon Academy. Part deux… ascertain the whereabouts of Headmaster Ozpin. That good?"

"That was… mind numbing…" Glynda noted.

Ironwood agreed, but decided not to dwell on the antagonistic nature of his colleague. "That will do, yes. Thank you." he paused again, this time weighing something in his mind. "Lastly, I need an After Action Report on the mission's details."

Qrow was taken aback by the General's choice of words. "Lastly?" he thought to himself… "These debriefings were known to take hours, what's his angle?" Feeling the weight of twelve anxious pairs of eyes on him... well, minus Ruby's... Qrow went ahead with recounting the story, using only general information, and leaving out any sensitive bits of the story, like Maidens or Silver-eyed warriors. Key points included the uncertainty surrounding Ozpin, the Grimm Dragon perched atop Beacon Tower, as well as the assumed death of Ms. Pyrrha Nikos.

"Thank you again Qrow," Ironwood responded, quite pleased that the level of sarcasm had been toned down for the longer account of the night's events. "Does anyone else have anything to add before the debriefing is concluded? I apologize for the abbreviated nature of this particular meeting, but I feel that our energies would be best spent elsewhere after the events of the last few days." No one wanted to be trapped in that room any longer than absolutely necessary, so silence prevailed for a moment, before Ironwood resumed, "In that case, I officially declare this debriefing adjourned. Everyone is dismissed." He reconsidered, "If I could have a brief word with Glynda and Qrow…"

The soldiers, pilots and a transcriber left the room. A doctor and two of his assistants saw to Ruby, informing the group that she would be brought to room 226, the same room as her sister. Weiss decided to go along with Ruby considering that she hadn't seen the rest of her team all night. After a few moments, the room was clear, save for the three remaining individuals. The guard was still kept up outside the door, for the sake of privacy.

Ironwood looked first at Glynda, then Qrow, trying to communicate his intentions before saying a word. "You left a few small details out of that story, didn't you Qrow…? When you spoke about being down in the vault, you didn't say a word about Amber. Am I to assume-"

"She's dead, James," Qrow interrupted. "I won't dance around it when it's just the three of us. I saw her after Weiss saved me. She had a single arrow piercing her chest. The same kind of arrow we found after the first attack. It's a safe bet that the Maiden's powers are re-united in her assailant."

"We still have no idea how Ozpin's disappearance fits into all of this," Glynda pointed out, "If she killed Amber, it's very likely that Ozpin would have been there when it happened, making him the only eye-witness. What else do we know about the situation?"

"According to Qrow's report, nothing. There aren't any leads, only theories." Ironwood replied.

"That's not… entirely accurate," Qrow said in a hushed voice. "There is one lead that might be worth following… Back in the vault, Weiss said that the reason that she was at the Tower was to find two missing students from Team Juniper. Pyrrha was obviously one of them, but the other was Jaune Arc. Before Weiss separated from Ruby, she got a call from Jaune, who claimed that Pyrrha was fighting someone very powerful at the top of the tower."

"It would explain why Mr. Arc was so anxious to go back to Beacon when we met him earlier, James," Glynda said, recalling Jaune's outburst just outside of the hospital. "He knew that Ms. Nikos was up there, and he knew who she was battling. He might be the only person left who knows what actually happened back there."

Ironwood stood up, "So, where is Jaune now?"

Glynda hadn't seen him in hours, "He was helping some other students with transporting the wounded from the ships to the hospital last night. One of the last ships to return to Vale had some of his friends and teammates on it. If I had to bet, I'd wager he's with them. If I remember correctly, his teammates are in Room 224."

"I'll take care of this one," Qrow offered. "I think this has to be handled with a certain amount of tact." He gave a quick wave, then left the room.

His two colleagues were stunned at the thought of Qrow using any measure of discretion in conversation.

* * *

Jaune woke up in quite the opposite of a fog. This time it was the morning sun shining through the hospital window, directly into his eyes. Squinting, he put his hand up to cast a shadow over his face. With his vision still blurred, he leaned forward in the chair he'd apparently passed out in. Before his nap, he'd been awake for the better part of the last twenty-four hours, save for a few moments in a rocket locker. After spending half of the night in a state of utter confusion, then the other half carrying the wounded that were arriving from Beacon, he was exhausted.

He'd made it through the night by keeping himself occupied and helping as many people as he could. Any time he stopped, Pyrrha entered his thoughts. He'd seen the flash of light coming from the top of the Tower, but had no context with which to form any sort of educated guess as to what it could be.

The terribly uncomfortable chair he'd fallen asleep in was positioned on the wall opposite of the two beds where his teammates rested. A quick scan of the room revealed that now, it was where only one of his teammates rested. Ren was sleeping reasonably peacefully in the bed closest to the door, while Nora was… making grunting noises from the ground beside her bed. Jaune got to his feet as quickly as he could, and stumbled over to make sure she was alright. As he rounded the corner of the bed closest to the window, he found Nora doing… sit-ups on the ground.

"NORA!" Jaune yelled, before realizing that Ren was still asleep. He lowered his voice to an angry whisper. "Nora! I told you no sit-ups. You have bruised ribs for crying out loud."

Even though she was clearly wincing in pain from each repetition, Nora didn't stop her workout. "Jaune, don't you… oof… think you should be… oof… resting? After the… oof… night you had, you should… oof… you're right I can't do this."

"Just take it easy for a little while, that's all I'm asking. You'll be back to your old self before you know it," Jaune said, helping Nora to her feet, then back to her bed, before taking a seat at the end of the same bed.

Nora smiled at the kind gesture, but the smile faded when she saw that the pain in his eyes far exceeded her own. "Jaune, she's gonna be fine. When has Pyrrha ever not been fine? I mean unless you count literally every social interaction between the two-"

"NORA!" The now awakened Ren shouted from across the room.

Jaune couldn't help but let a laugh slip out. After the nightmare of the last few days, he understood. His teammates had his back, especially Nora. She'd given him the space he needed to try to comfort Pyrrha before her match in the tournament. She could see the writing on the walls even if he couldn't. Jaune had considered detailing the last time he'd spoken to Pyrrha, and what happened, to his team, but every time he tried to gather the courage to even think about it, he nearly broke down into tears. Right now he needed to put on a strong face. That conversation would have to wait.

"Ren, it's okay. I- I get it. You guys don't have to tiptoe around it any more. She considered me to be more than a friend. I can see that now. It's just the… not knowing… ya know? I wanna talk to her. I want… I want to make everything right, but no one has heard from Pyrrha or Ruby or Weiss, and it's been hours. Glynda and Ironwood won't let anybody go to Beacon. They say it's too overrun with Grimm, so they quarantined it." Jaune thought about how little he was concerned with the Grimm infestation. "I don't care how dangerous it is! My friends are out there somewhere, and I'm sitting here. I've got to do something… anything..." He stood up from the bed, ready for action, but a hand grabbed his arm.

"WE…'ve… got to do something," Ren's calm voice corrected him from the opposite bed. "Pyrrha is our teammate too. What kind of team would we be if we just lay here when she needs us?"

Jaune looked back at Nora, who had been responsible for the restrainment of his arm. "I can't ask you guys to do that. You're both hurt, and if anything happened to-"

"Staaahp," Nora groaned. "Watching you sulk like this hurts more than anything that happened to me last night. Besides, you'd be a terrible leader if you didn't at least put it to a vote. And so far, it looks like you're outnumbered. This… is happening!"

Jaune tried to bring the cold realities of their proposed mission into context. "I'm not taking you guys back to Beacon in your conditions! You could be killed!"

"Then we'll die together!" Nora exclaimed in her usual happy-go-lucky demeanor, garnering worrisome looks from her two teammates.

There was silence for a moment before Ren spoke up. "Uh, Nora? Maybe try to be a little more... positive than… that?"

"Oops!" She backpedaled rapidly, "Then we'll fail together!" Ren let out an extended sigh, before sliding his legs out over the edge of the bed and slowly rising to his feet.

Jaune turned back to Nora, offering his hand to help her up. He'd been against this idea wholeheartedly, but he was outvoted three to one. Nora, Ren and his own heart wanted closure to this night of uncertainty and angst. His brain was trying to communicate the danger and recklessness of this plan, but not doing so successfully.

It was Ren who brought up the first hoop that they would have to jump through to make this plan work. "The security forces around here are not like going to let us climb up to Beacon, much less steal an airship. So how do we get there?" Jaune hadn't thought about how to actually get to Beacon aside from using transport ships, which weren't running at the moment.

"Let's just get down to the ships across the street, and we'll figure something out. You're right about the security though, Ren. They won't be happy about what we're doing, no matter how we end up doing it," Jaune surmised.

"Maybe they'll try to taze me, bro" Nora joked. She got a laugh from everyone in the room.

Several minutes passed as Nora and Ren changed from hospital gowns to combat armor. It took longer than normal due to general soreness and fatigue. Jaune felt like it was a short eternity passing, but at least they were going to do something. His mind was racing, but it was as close to being at ease as it had been all of the previous night. For better or for worse, he'd know. No more uncertainty.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna run next door to Yang's room. Hopefully Blake's there, so I can let somebody know what we're doing, just so they can… you know… save us when we fail," Jaune said to Nora, who smirked at the wisecrack. "Just so you know, I'm absolutely not letting either of them come along. I don't care how many votes they get... I'll be right back."

He opened the door to his room, and poked his head out into the hall. The nature of what he was about to do meant that it was probably a good idea to avoid suspicion, so Jaune made sure that there were no soldiers in the hall who would wonder why he was leading what were essentially two cadavers out of the hospital. Seeing that it was all clear, Jaune turned to his left and headed to room 226. It was a safe assumption that Yang wouldn't even be awake yet. Whatever had happened to her was savage, and she would need a lot of time to rest.. It was hit-or-miss with Blake. She could be really friendly or really blunt, depending on whether or not she'd had her tea. Her injury was also particularly vicious, and she wasn't supposed to be up and moving around this soon.

He knocked softly on the door. As expected, there wasn't much activity inside. "Blake? It's Jaune, can I come inside real quick? I need to tell you guys something." Now he could hear footsteps. He wasn't especially close with Blake, but Jaune knew that she'd be more comfortable around people she knew. Now that he'd established that he wasn't some doctor coming to change a bandage or something, she'd let him in. Jaune was sure of it. The footsteps stopped just inside the door. There was a moment of hesitation, before the door slowly swung open.

Jaune's heart proceeded to skip several beats. Everything was wrong again. Standing before him was not the dark-haired Faunus who he was expecting. Instead, he stood face to face with a very disheveled-looking Weiss, who was clearly caught off-guard by his arrival. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes, knowing what she was about to have to say. She had been struggling with how to handle the news of Pyrrha's fate for the twenty or thirty minutes it had been since she got out of the debriefing.

For a moment Jaune stood, stunned, trying to understand how he could have missed so much. He hadn't planned on falling asleep on that chair in the first place, but even still, his rest only lasted for a couple of hours at most. As his thoughts snapped back to the present, he began to draw completely unsubstantiated conclusions about what her presence here meant. His brainstorming was interrupted by Weiss burying her head on his shoulder.

Her voice was muffled somewhat by the thickness of Jaune's battle fatigues, but the words came through very clearly. "I'm… I- Jaune… we went… as fast as we could… there was no time… Ruby tried to save her… I don't know what happened…" Then nothing. The proud heiress quietly sobbed on his shoulder for a few moments, before taking a step back and looking straight into his eyes, before being robbed of a chance to speak.

"Weiss… what are you saying? Who did Ruby try to save?" Jaune asked the question, half in ignorance, half in denial. He never had been able to deduce who Weiss was with at the time of their conversation on the scroll. As he began to put it all together, it all began to fall apart. "Weiss…? What happ… Where's… Pyrrha…?"

Weiss slowly lowered her head, prepared to present the only vestige that remained of Pyrrha Nikos. When she struggled to unfasten the tiara from her belt, Jaune noticed. He looked down, and saw his nightmare become reality.

He stumbled backward, then forward again, clearly off balance. His legs shook. Everything shook. A sudden tightness in his stomach and lightheadedness paralyzed him. He dropped to his knees, arms bracing himself against the door frame, eyes glazed over, fixated on the floor. There were no tears. He knew her death was a possibility, but now was the first time his mind was attempting to come to terms with it, albeit unsuccessfully.

Weiss took a moment to finally detach the tiara from her belt. She held it for a moment, before kneeling down with Jaune. She could clearly see that the life had been sucked out of him. He was almost totally unresponsive. Her words weren't eloquent, they weren't carefully thought out, they were a raw stream of emotion. "Jaune… I'm so, so sorry. I just… we just couldn't go fast enough… I told Ruby to get to the top of the Tower… After that… I just… don't know." She sniffled a bit, wiped the tears from her eyes, and attempted to compose herself a bit more before continuing. "When Qrow and I finally made it to the top… we found Ruby unconscious, and Pyrrha's tiara. I don't think anybody knows what happened up there."

Some part of what she said triggered Jaune. He lowered his arms from the door frame, and carefully grasped the tiara, almost without looking at it. He held it up to his face. The harsh reality of what he was looking at finally started to pervade his thoughts, but it wasn't despair. "Weiss," he started softly, "It's… not your fault. It's what… Pyrrha wanted. Not that she wanted to… I don't know…" He stopped to organize his thoughts for a moment. "She asked me once if I believed in destiny, like… if I thought our entire existence was for a specific purpose. Pyrrha told me that she thought her destiny was to protect the world... I don't know if we'll ever know what happened on that tower, but she protected me."

"She did a lot more than that, kid," Qrow's voice reassured him. "Her sacrifice may be the first step along a path so saving us all."

Jaune turned his head just enough to get a glimpse of who was addressing him. "You must be-"

"Qrow. Yeah, that's me." He put his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Listen, we don't have to have this conversation right now. Take some time with this. Let it sink in. As soon as you don't feel sadness for stuff like this is when you know you've lost your humanity… who you are. She's gone, but her legacy… well, that's you. She died so that the rest of us could have a chance."

Qrow then knelt down, addressing both of them. "It doesn't have to be today, and it doesn't have to be tomorrow. But there are some things you need to know... some things that are going to make this picture a lot clearer. When you're ready, come find me, and we'll talk."

With that, he left them. After a few minutes of silence, Jaune found it within himself to stand up, and offered his hand to Weiss to assist her. She accepted, and they now stood as they began, in the doorway, burdened by the sadness of Pyrrha's passing. At the same time, it was an almost comforting feeling to know the truth, to have the realization that despite her passing, this was the thing Pyrrha had sacrificed everything for.

Weiss was the first to speak in Qrow's absence. "I… wasn't sure how this was going to affect you Jaune. It's part of the reason I didn't come to you right away. I wasn't trying to avoid you, I promise. It's just… I didn't know how to tell you. There's really no words that can express how sorry I am that I couldn't help her. I should have been there for her. For you. For Ruby. I let a lot of people down-"

"That's enough, Weiss." Jaune insisted. "I won't let you beat yourself up over this. You did everything you could. Ruby too. But Crow's right. Pyrrha did all of this to protect the rest of us. She knew what she was doing and she did it on her own terms. I don't think she knew from the beginning, but at some point she made a decision… and that decision didn't come easy for her. When this all settles down, I'll tell you the whole story. For right now? I just need you to go easy on yourself." For the first time, Jaune looked past Weiss into the room. Ruby lay silently on the bed closest to the window. He let a small smile slip, comforted by the sight of Ruby safely back with her friends. "Take care of your team Weiss. They need you. Just like right now, mine needs me."

They stood in the doorway for a time, in somber solidarity for everyone and everything taken from them in the last few days. Weiss took the opportunity to move close enough to give Jaune a hug, which he reciprocated. The embrace lasted for a few seconds before the two parted.

"Thanks again Weiss. For everything. You did everything you could have possibly done. There's not a shred of blame that falls on your shoulders for this. Just so you know, if you need to talk to me about anything, I'm right next door. I'm gonna take some time with this like Crow said, so I'll be around." Jaune turned to head back to his room before stopping himself. "Hey, I almost forgot… if you get a chance, go find Neptune. He was pretty worried about you all last night."

Weiss thanked him for being so understanding, and for telling her about Neptune. She was grateful that she had something else to think about for a while. She backed into her room and softly closed the door.

Jaune made his way back to his room slowly, with her tiara still in his hands. He'd done his best to put on a good face for Weiss, but now he was going to have to deliver the news to his two teammates.

It wasn't easy. When he opened his door, his teammates were in exceptionally good spirits, ready to start their secret mission to save Pyrrha. They were stunned when Jaune entered the room holding her tiara. Ren was pretty level headed about most things, but Jaune could tell how hard this hit him. Even still, he didn't cry. Ren only did that around onions. Nora, on the other hand, immediately broke into a full weep. She was the happiest person Jaune had ever met, so seeing her upset like that made him give in to his emotions and join her. Team Juniper was a family, and they had lost one of their own.

The rest of the day was full of reflection, for both the good times and the bad. It helped everyone cope. There were tears of joy and tears of sadness, and a greater appreciation for their own lives and those of their friends, preserved through the heroics of their beloved Pyrrha Nikos.


	11. Bananas Foster

Chapter 11: Bananas Foster

It had been a relatively uneventful morning for Sun Wukong. He'd spent the last few hours sleeping in a tree in the park across from the hospital. After his was the last ship to return to Vale before dawn, there was not much for him to do. He had personally carried Blake to one of the emergency rooms available. She had been treated back at Beacon, but only with field dressings. Inside the hospital, a real doctor did the proper cleaning and stitchwork needed to treat a stab wound.

It made him proud to see his, as he called them, 'dumb' team manning the stretchers when his ship opened its bay door. Sage and Scarlet made sure that Yang was immediately taken to an emergency room. She was unconscious, and considering the nature of an amputation like the one she'd experienced, she would need the attention of a surgeon in a timely manner. Neptune was there too, working with Jaune to help his two teammates. Nora had insisted that she was fine and didn't need any help. But then she nearly passed out stepping down the ramp at the back of the ship. Needless to say, she got help.

As far as the safe zone itself was concerned, the Grimm attacks had died down after the flash of light, and the White Fang retreated from Beacon after that Dragon showed up. Sun wasn't really sure where they'd gone, but it was unlikely that they were done causing trouble. What they were now calling the 'Battle of Beacon' had been the climax of the night's activities. There were certainly still Grimm in Vale, but mostly outside of the safe zone. Unlike many others, his own team hadn't received any major injuries. He decided this was a minor miracle, considering the rest of his team was prone to mishaps and bad luck.

They had literally fought in the first battle of a new war. Sun thought about that for a few moments. "War. How can you fight a war when you don't even know what you're really fighting?" he thought aloud. It was true to an extent. "Sure, there was the White Fang, and the Grimm, but that woman on the loudspeaker at Amity… who was she? I fought a couple giant robots too, but they all shut down right when i was gettin' warmed up!" To him, none of the enemy combatants made any sense. "Why would the White Fang, the Grimm and giant robots team up?"

A low hum off in the distance caught his attention. Sun looked around until he noticed an armored transport ship moving closer to the hospital. The low hum slowly built into a noisy combination of swirling air and mechanical stabilizing controls, as the ship flew overhead. It eventually hovered over the building across the street, giving clear indications that it would land there soon.

The noise coming from the ship above covered the rumbling of Sun's stomach at first, but now he could feel it. So he reached into the cargo pocket on his jeans, retrieving a banana that he'd stolen from the hospital lunchroom during the previous night. As he began to peel it, he heard a bit of a commotion coming from the entrance to the building. Sun tried to ignore it at first. He'd spent enough time here to realize that there was always some fuss at the front door. He took a bite, chewed for a moment, then spit the starchy imposter onto the ground below. "PLANTAIN!? Who even eats these things?"

Now he was frustrated on top of being hungry. Sun rolled off of the branch he'd been balancing on, cartwheeling, before landing perfectly, feet first on the ground. As he began his march to the hospital, he noticed the coalition of nurses and civilians gathered in a circle on the steps leading to the entrance. Not wanting to be excluded from the excitement, Sun was quick to push through the small mob. After mildly irritating several members of the hospital staff, he made it to the front row of the crowd, where he found a doctor tending to… "Blake?"

"What the heck are you doing out here?" Sun asked, in his trademark, blunt mannerism.

The doctor responded, "She kept saying she just wanted some fresh air. A few of the staff members noticed her struggling to walk down the hall toward the exit, and when she made it out the door, she just fainted. I didn't treat her, but based on her injuries, she shouldn't even be out of bed. I've called for a stretcher to-"

"That's stupid. I can handle this," Sun declared. He then proceeded to kneel down, pick up Blake, and start to walk inside.

The doctor was speechless at first, but eventually he found words for his disbelief, "Hey! She's in no condition to be carried around like that! Bring her back here right now!"

"Pfffft, why? I already did most of the work. You can thank me later." Sun's quirks often came off as arrogant or rude, but he meant well. It was a difference of cultures that lead him to rub people the wrong way, more often than not.

In this case, the doctor was clearly not pleased with the assumed mistreatment of a patient with a serious injury. But he wasn't going to make a scene in front of everyone, so he just let it go. "Kids these days..." he muttered as the crowd dispersed and he walked back inside.

As Sun carried Blake up the stairs to nowhere in particular, she cracked open her amber eyes, as if coming out of a daze. She looked around for a moment, before turning her head to see who was responsible for carrying her. Sun noticed her movement, and then that she had opened her eyes a bit. It seemed like a good time to inform her that "Y-know, you can be pretty stubborn sometimes."

Blake knew that she wanted to trade verbal blows with Sun, but her current condition only allowed her to babble a few senseless syllables, "...hill… ert… yang…" before returning to her sleep.

"Good one," Sun said to the once again unresponsive Faunus in his arms.

When he made it to the second floor, Sun began to consider that he had no idea where Blake's room was. He had taken her to the emergency room during the previous night, but he hadn't been allowed to stay there with her, so he went to his tree. He knew where Yang's room was. Everyone knew that. She got constant visitors and well wishes, even though she hadn't woken up yet. That would be a good place to start.

As he neared room 226, one of the hospital staff noticed him carrying Blake. As it turned out, he was one of the nurses who had bandaged her the night before. Sun was informed that Blake's room was 225, across the hall. She was kept apart from her teammate because the doctors weren't sure what kind of emotional state Yang would be in when she didn't want to create a situation where either patient would be adversely affected by the stress of the other. Sun didn't really understand the psychology of what he'd been told, so he decided that it was dumb. Even still, he agreed to bring Blake back to her own room.

He opened the door with his tail, only to find all of the blinds and curtains pulled closed. "This must be the place," Sun declared. He walked into the room and carefully lowered Blake onto the bed with the already ruffled sheets, assuming it was hers. In the time it took him to pull the covers up to her neck, he realized that Blake was now in bed in her full combat gear, save for her Gambol Shroud, which she'd left at Beacon somewhere. The thought crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe, she should be in some kind of hospital gown, but the possibility of her waking up during the changing process made Sun consider his own mortality, and therefore decide against it.

"What were you doing out there?" Sun asked the sleeping girl. "You know you have to get better, right? I mean... You HAVE to get better. It's bad enough I couldn't help you at Beacon, and now you go and get into trouble at a hospital? Seriously, don't make me babysit you. I hate kids." He stopped his monologue, recognizing that it was going off on a tangent.

The quiet meant he heard his stomach rumbled again. This time though, Sun could see a bowl of some kind of edible material on the nightstand between the two beds. He pulled the curtain open slightly to cast enough light that he could identify the food. There were apples, oranges, grapes and a can of tuna. "This is definitely the place," he reiterated. The choices weren't ideal for him, but Sun was concerned that Blake might attempt another jailbreak if he left her alone to go get something else. So, he took a seat on the chair, which he then began to balance on one leg.

A few hours passed before there was any activity in the room. But in the early afternoon, Blake began to stir. Sun stopped his meditation to see what was going on around him. When he did, he noticed the beads of sweat on Blake's forehead, and the twisted expression on her face. Sun wasn't an expert in analyzing sleeping patterns in faunus, or humans… or anything really. He decided to try to wake her up, as whatever was on her mind was clearly distressing her.

He put a hand on her shoulder and carefully shook. When there was no reaction, he shook a bit harder. The next thing he knew, his arm had been parried, and a quick jab landed somewhere on the side of his head… he was unsure exactly where. Sun stumbled back, caught completely off guard. His usual unfiltered stream of words came to the fore, "Wha… why?... Blake, it's me! Calm down!"

Her eyes opened wide, revealing some combination of terror, shock and remorse. She was breathing heavily, eyes darting around the room as if she expected something to materialize out of thin air. Blake opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but the words didn't come out.

Never at a loss for words, Sun filled the void, "It's ok Blake, I'm here, you're gonna be fine."

Her eyes were still wide open, as was her mouth. She started to babble again, "...hill… ert you..."

Sun could tell she wasn't thinking straight yet. "Yeah, I got that part before, still doesn't make any sens-"

"No..." Her interruption created a delay that allowed her to organize her thoughts, and speech patterns.

"...He'll hurt you too."


	12. Into Shadows

Chapter 12: Into Shadows

"Blake… what are you talking about? You're safe now, nobody's gonna hurt anybody," Sun insisted.

Her thoughts were slowly beginning to coalesce into something rational. She sat up in her bed, causing Sun to glare at her for disregarding her own well-being… again. Blake returned the glare, obviously trying to buy time for normal brain function to return. When it did, she opened her stream of consciousness to him. "Sun, you already know that I grew up in the White Fang. You already know that when our original leader stepped down, a new, radically different one stepped up. What you don't know… and what I… held back from everyone is… he and I worked very closely. We were partners, actually."

"Uh, I thought you told me you left after he took over," Sun stated quizzically, still trying to remember their conversation at the cafe in Vale on the day they met.

"I did. Eventually. The things he did… the things we did… went from questionable to flat out horrible in a really short period of time. A lot of people got hurt because of us. When I couldn't stomach it any more, I left the White Fang. I left him. He didn't… he doesn't understand how I could betray him." Blake was finally calming down, but she still kept looking around the room like she could see a ghost leaping from shadow to shadow.

"But you're out now. I'm not saying any of it was right, but it's in your past. I'm not gonna judge you by something that you put behind you," Sun said reassuringly, or at least he thought so.

Blake shook her head, "But you're wrong…"

He raised one eyebrow, perplexed by what he was hearing, "Which part? You rejoin the White Fang without telling me?" Blake frowned, unsure if Sun was joking, and equally unsure if she cared.

"Just... listen Sun. His name is Adam Taurus. He's the one that hurt Yang. He's the one that hurt me. And he'll come for you. I know, because… because I know him better than anyone else. Adam was my old partner, almost like a mentor, and he's ruthless. He promised me that he was going to destroy everything I love…"

Sun raised his other eyebrow to match the first, as a contemplative expression appeared on his face. He took a moment to try to work out that last part in his mind. Did she mean love-love? Or just love? He figured it would just be best to ask, "So does that mean we're a thing, or…?"

Blake found herself more annoyed by Sun's off-beat line of questioning than she was by being trapped in a hospital bed. She didn't get a chance to voice her displeasure before the doorknob twisted, and the almost darkness gave way to the light, and Weiss, both coming from the hallway. She couldn't see around the corner to Blake's bed, so she addressed Sun instead. "Oh, Hi… Sun. I can't say I expected you to be here… I was looking for Blake. She wasn't in Yang's room."

"Uh, yeah. She's here. Hospital staff said something about not wanting the patients to be jealous of each other or… I dunno. It's dumb… Wait. When did you even get back? Is Ruby with you?"

Weiss proceeded to explain her experiences over the last few hours to Blake and Sun. Everything from the debriefing with General Ironwood to her heart-breaking conversation with Jaune. The news about Pyrrha was particularly deflating. Even Sun's child-like exuberance couldn't shine through the veil of sadness. The news that Ruby was resting peacefully helped to offset some of the bad juju that had been accumulated by all the talk of death and defeat.

Blake was visibly upset with the story that she'd just been filled in with. "I should've been there with you and Ruby. But I-"

"Stop," Weiss ordered. "Everyone I talk to says that exact same thing. So stop. You were hurt, and no one could have asked you to-"

"You don't understand!" Blake cried. "I should've been there with you and Ruby, But I… I ran into… him."

Weiss racked her brain trying to remember everything she knew about Blake, trying to piece together who she was talking about. There was nothing. No one. It made her uncomfortable to ask her teammate to relive experiences that she clearly didn't want to, but Weiss decided that it would be in everyone's best interests to get issues like this out in the open. "Him? Who is he?"

"Someone who was very dear to me. His name is Adam. I've known him for… a long time. Going back to my time in the White Fang. After Yang's fight with Mercury, when I told her about a close friend of mine changing over time, that was Adam. I never wanted to associate the horrible things he… we… did with any of my friends and teammates. So I ran from him, I hid from him." Blake turned away from her audience in shame, choosing instead to make eye contact with the floor. "Right after I separated from Weiss to chase that Alpha Beowulf, he found me."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about him before? You promised us that you'd come to your team first," Weiss stated sharply, clearly annoyed that Blake was still keeping secrets from her.

"I didn't want to put anyone in danger. You don't know him, and you don't want to. He's a monster! I know what I promised, but losing your trust is better than losing you altogether!" She rubbed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears, "I don't deserve to have friends like you."

Weiss shook her head, "Actually, you need to have friends like us. Friends who understand that the monsters from your past are still out there. Friends who will stand by your side and face those monsters. As a team."

Sun chimed in, "We can totally take him."

"You just don't get it! He's not going to walk up and fight you. He'll toy with you. He'll target your weaknesses and then feed on your strengths. Didn't you see what he did to Yang? He did that with one attack. And he did it because of me. ME! It's MY fault! I don't know how you can consider me to be your friend when I'm leading a psychopath right to you…"

Weiss was speechless. She wanted to come back with a long-winded monologue about how their team could overcome any challenge, but Ruby and Yang were unconscious in the other room and Blake was an emotional trainwreck… with a stab wound.

Sun looked directly at Blake, who was still fixated on the floor, "So you'll run again. Is that it? Is that how the story ends?"

"It's the only thing I can do to protect the people I love," she said, slowly elevating her gaze from the floor to meet Sun's eyes.

Weiss huffed loudly, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Trying to ease the mood a bit after the theatrics that Weiss had just unleashed upon room 225, Sun broke the awkward silence left in the wake of a slammed door, "I'm not going to stop you from leaving, Blake. But you have to promise me that when you're out there… alone… I want you to tell me that you won't do something stupid like fight this maniac.

Blake slowly slid her legs off of the side of the bed. She felt a lot stronger than before, but she knew it was probably from the adrenaline and raw emotion she'd been running on during the last few minutes. She also considered that her aura was starting to replenish, so maybe it wasn't all adrenaline. "I can only promise one thing. If he finds me again, I won't be a threat to anyone but him."

Sun smiled. "Heh… Y-know, you can be really stubborn, like all the time." This time, Blake smiled back at him. As if to acknowledge that he might actually be right. They were silent for a few minutes, not sure how to properly part ways. "So, I mean I only ate one bite of a fake banana today… and you should probably eat something before you go… so uh, if you wanna go down to the cafeteria we can grab some dinner or something. Or not, I mean either way is cool."

"I could eat," Blake said bluntly. She wasn't sure how to process all of Sun's attempts to basically ask her on some sort of weird dinner date at a hospital cafeteria. "Just give me a few minutes to calm down, and maybe clean up a little bit."

He agreed, but not before helping Blake up from the bed and seeing her walk safely and under her own power to the bathroom. Sun decided that although fainting into one's arms could have romantic connotations, passing out into a plate of food was less... flattering. The time it took for Blake to rinse her arms and face with some soap and water in the sink was negligible. Even Sun was impressed that a girl could get ready for anything that quickly. He thought about commenting on it, but then decided for the second time that day, his own life was more valuable than some crummy joke.

Blake looked into the mirror as she washed herself, thinking about the ramifications of spending her last moments amongst her friends and… Sun. "What if Adam knew? What if he was watching somehow?" Then she considered what Weiss had said about friends having each others' backs. If he was watching, if he somehow knew to come to the hospital right now… he'd have an army of students, huntsmen and huntresses ready to fight him. It was a reassuring thought. Adam could be defeated in open combat, but that wasn't his game. No, he would wait for her team to go out on a mission for the time to strike. He would watch them, learn their vulnerabilities and then prey on them. It was safe to stay here, but it made leaving with friends all the more perilous.

When she left the washroom, Blake noticed that Sun was now fumbling with his favorite neck trap. "It's… just a cafeteria," she said with a dry laugh.

"Maybe to you it's… just a cafeteria. For me? This is high class. I usually just eat everyone else's food." Blake's eyes shot to the bowl of fruit… and tuna cans... on the nightstand, which Sun was quick to comment on. "Not your food. I don't really do fish." A sense of relief swept over her.

Before leaving the room for the last time, she tossed the tuna into her pack, along with whatever spare clothes that she had with her before being forced out of Beacon. It was a light load. Without her weapon, she felt strange, but at some point she could try to get it back.

They exited the room, walking slowly to the end of the hall and down the stairs. The cafeteria was on the first floor, in the back of the building. It had large windows along the rear wall that allowed for a… half decent view of the the sun setting behind Vale's skyline. There weren't many other people in the room, and most of the vendors had closed up shop for the night. One was still opened though. It was run by an older, familiar gentleman with a mostly bald head, his grey hair only growing from the back. His kind face and bushy eyebrows seemed to invite the two newcomers. Ordering was easy enough. The man seemed to know what they would order before they spoke.

With food in front of them, they set about their dinners. For the first few minutes, there was no conversation. It had been almost a day since either Sun or Blake had eaten anything. A short time passed before Sun became more interested in playing with his food than he was in eating it. Now seemed like a good time to get a constructive conversation started.

"I think Weiss is right." He blurted out.

Blake looked up at Sun, chewed the food in her mouth, and swallowed. A quick sip from her drink allowed her to build up the proper level of dramatic tension to convey her displeasure. "You… what?"

"I think Weiss is right," Sun repeated. "Hear me out. I can't blame her for being upset with you. Weiss was a loner. She was hard to get along with and generally pretty cold to people she didn't know or trust. At least… when I met her she was. You and Ruby and Yang have become the closest thing she has to a family in Vale. Right now, Yang is unconscious, Ruby is in some kind of coma, and you're…" he sighed, "running off again."

"I told you, I have to. It isn't safe for anyone to be associated with me," she said sternly.

Almost apologetically, Sun retorted "I get that. Really, I do. Weiss doesn't know this guy like you do, but she doesn't want to lose another one of her teammates. Her… sisters. She wants to help you. I want to help you, but I think we both understand that you have to do this for you. We just show our… understanding… in different ways."

"That's putting it mildly," Blake agreed.

"When the time comes, just remember that you still have a place here. Your team will be waiting for you. I'll be waiting for you. No amount of stubbornness can change that." They sat in silence for a few seconds, But having said what he wanted to say, Sun stood up from their table.

Blake was caught so completely off-guard that she almost couldn't make the words to reply. "Sun, I-"

"You don't have to say anything. Just watch yourself out there," Sun said, as he turned to leave the room. Blake wanted to say something to stop him, to keep up his company for just a bit longer, but he stopped before she needed to. He turned his head halfway back towards Blake, "Oh, and if you run into that creep again, give him my regards for me, will ya?" Sun motioned his right fist into his open left palm.

She nodded, trying once again to hold back her tears. Over the course of the day, Blake had begun to understand that her friends were more than willing to put themselves in harm's way for her. Her internal conflict lay in having to decide if she could bear to let them risk life and… limb… for her. As the doors to the cafeteria closed behind Sun, Blake now sat alone, as she would for the next hour. Occasionally she would poke at her food, as if to ask its opinion on the choice that she wasn't able to make herself.

During that hour, the sun had completely set over the horizon, and the last traces of light left only their orange corona to remember them by. The cafeteria doors once again opened, then closed. This time it was Blake exiting. Her decision was final now, but she couldn't leave without visiting her team one more time. The walk up to room 226 was especially painful. Not physically, it was the emotional battle that she fought with herself even after making the decision to leave everyone behind. How was she going to tell them? Sun made it seem so easy, and he was… less than delicate with his words. Blake decided that the best way to have this conversation was to just improvise.

She didn't knock. Blake briefly rested her hand on the doorknob, before applying pressure to the metal handle. She was surprised to find that only a single lamp remained on. It was on a coffee table near a chair located opposite of the two beds. Weiss was slumped, somewhat, in the chair. A small white book lay on the table next to her. As Blake pressed further into the room, she saw that both Yang and Ruby were still resting silently. The temptation crossed her mind to turn and leave, but she thought better of it.

Instead, she moved to the space between the two beds, and placed one of her hands on top of Yang's, the other on Ruby's. She turned to Yang first. "I can't even begin to explain how much this hurts me. You're my closest friend, Yang… but I can never forgive myself for what's already happened to you, let alone what other horrors I could be responsible for. I would never ask you to understand the decision I've made… or accept it. That's not fair to you. What I do ask is to remember that one day, I'm going to make all of this up to you. I don't know when, and I don't know how. That's my promise to you, Yang Xiao Long."

Blake remained still, with her head tilted towards the floor. Once again she was trying, but this time failing to hold back tears. A single droplet ran down her cheek, past her mouth, and rested briefly on the tip of her chin. As she turned to Ruby, the liquid broke free from her, and plummeted to the floor.

"Ruby Rose. You're the bravest of us all. Whatever happened to you up there, on that tower… it must've been absolutely overwhelming to take you off of your feet. I've never met anyone so sure of herself and her abilities. Don't let any of this change you. Let your heart lead you, and others are going to follow." She sniffled, having managed to control her tears for the time being. Even still, Blake didn't remove her hands from theirs for what felt like hours, but only amounted to a few minutes.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around, facing the slumping heiress. "I'm sorry Weiss. I understand that you care more for us than you could ever convey with words. I've just got to do this for me… but I'm not doing it without taking your well being into consideration. When this all gets sorted out… when everything is back to normal, we'll tackle this monster as a team. As friends." Weiss slowly formed a smile on her face. Blake almost jumped at the sight. "Wait, you're awake?"

"Of course I'm awake. You're talking… and you're right. For now, you do what you need to do. But when you get back... and you ARE going to come back... we're going to have a loooong talk about transparency. Got it?"

"Got it. Thank you, Weiss."

Weiss looked at Blake, then Ruby and Yang, "Don't thank me, just get out of here before one of them wakes up and wants an explanation from you."

Blake left the room with an unwavering confidence in her decision. Now that she had Weiss' blessing, the crushing weight on her conscience was lifted. Her eyes transitioned from the dimly lit room to the almost blinding hallway. The lights in the halls and stairwells seemed brighter than at any other point in the day. It made sense. The darkness outside made natural light a scarcity, and the interior lights compensated for that. Unfortunately, as someone who was trying to disappear into shadows, the extra illumination was problematic. She would never make it out the front doors, that much was clear from experience. The staff would recognize her after the whole fainting incident from earlier that day.

The roof was her best option. With so many buildings so close together on either side of the hospital, she could make an easy escape. Blake casually made her way down the long corridor to the double doors leading to the staircase. "I'm actually going through with this," she thought, almost in disbelief that she was at this point, after all that had happened. She wished with all of her might that she didn't have to do it, but with every step, she became more resolute that it had to be this way.

The door leading onto the roof was unguarded. As she meticulously pushed the door along it's hinges, the cool air reminded her of the unforgiving reality of the journey she was about to embark upon. She stepped out into it, and started towards the adjacent rooftop.

She was stopped by a pressure on her wrist. A hand.

"Forgot somethin." The voice said softly from behind. Blake was only able to half-turn her head before Sun gently kissed her cheek. In a flash, he released her hand, and quickly headed back through the door she'd just come from. He only stopped long enough to remind her, "I'll be waiting..."

She only caught a brief glimpse of him before the door closed, but Blake stood, frozen, for a short eternity. When she was finally able to move, she realized that she'd been blushing, and somehow empowered. She turned back to the next building, got a running start and charged headlong into the shadows.


	13. Ghost Stories

Chapter 13: Ghost Stories

"Uh... were they just supposed to shut down like that?"

"The robots? I don't know, we ARE talking about Roman here… He doesn't do anything according to plan."

"You're not wrong. But he is kind of effective, I guess that's one of the benefits of organized crime. I should've taken the full dental coverage instead."

"Shut up Mercury. No amount of sarcasm can make that man tolerable."

"Ehhh, it's not so bad. He's kind of like the family member that comes to your house, gets really drunk and then you kill him. At least, that's what I'm picturing in my mind."

"Is that a recurring theme in your family, or…?"

"What? Oh, That. Right. No, I actually think about that kind of thing all the time."

Emerald took a step away from her, as she called him, introverted partner. As a team, they were effective both in combat situations and as Cinder's most trusted underlings. The Battle of Beacon raged on the campus below them, and their job was to relay every second of the brutality and chaos to the world. The broadcast had to follow very strict parameters, according to the plan. Cinder explicitly stated that they should focus on the Atlesian Knights.

Roman's job had been to get himself into a position where he could trigger the protocols and subroutines necessary to take over the fully mechanized components of Atlas' Military. His choice to complete his mission by getting locked up in a holding cell aboard an Atlesian Warship was absolutely a decision Emerald could get behind. She wouldn't have to deal with his snark for an indeterminate amount of time. Despite her displeasure with being associated with Roman, even she had to admit that he had done well to create the facade of Atlas turning against itself, against the huntsmen and huntresses, and against Vale.

Mercury had been recording some Paladins engaging a group of students in the courtyard. He was impressed by their ability to… not die… in the face of the most powerful mechanized units in Atlas' arsenal. Then it all stopped. The Knights and Paladins collapsed into assorted heaps of useless metal on the ground, and an audible cheer came from the groups that had been engaged against them. It was a good thing that for their purposes, they weren't broadcasting sound. All Mercury would have to do is turn in another direction and record the White Fang attacks or the Grimm invasion to maintain the pretense of anarchy. He actually enjoyed it. Knowing full well that he could never have orchestrated this master plan on his own, he took great pleasure in being a cog in the revolutionary machine that had now been switched on.

Cinder had been gone for close to fifteen minutes now. She'd headed off towards the Tower, picking off any Grimm that got close to her with ease. After the long walk, she disappeared inside the doors. Emerald began to worry a bit that something might be wrong. She knew better than to doubt her boss, but something inside of her couldn't help but wonder about the parts of the plan that she wasn't privy to. As far as she was aware, Cinder planned to destroy the local hub for the CCTS. Her only orders were to stay with Mercury and keep the recording going until the end. After that, Cinder would personally communicate their new instructions. Neither had even the slightest idea of the timeframe when any of this would happen.

"How much longer do we have to do this?"

"How should I know? We both know you're the favorite here, so if Cinder didn't tell you, there's no way she'd tell me. All she said was to record until the end."

"What else is really left to record? The last of the students and huntsmen have gathered at the docks. Once they leave, there's really only the… Grimm…" Emerald's sentence trailed off as the Dragon passed overhead again, this time wrapping itself around the base of the Tower.

"That answers that," Mercury replied as he panned across the landscape to focus on the great beast. "This is so great." As it clawed its way up the side of the tower, Mercury's smile just grew wider. His partner must have picked up on his sick enjoyment, and she wasn't thrilled.

"Mercury…" she growled, "How can you possibly be enjoying this? People are dying down there..."

Without moving the camera from its focus, he looked at Emerald with a hint of surprise on his face, "What are you talking about? It's our job. You know what they say… if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life… and I'm all about not working."

She considered this for a few moments. It was hard to understand how two people could be so similar, yet so different based on a single ideological inconsistency. "It's our job," she repeated. "But I don't have to love it."

"Then why are you here, Em?" The question could have almost been confused for a scolding.

"You know why. I'm here because I owe Cinder everything. Before I met her, I was nothing... a simple thief. I had to be. It was the only way I could get by. I will never question her, but you are NOT her." Emerald was now visibly irritated with her partner.

"And where's Cinder now, huh? I haven't seen her in a little while. If it makes you feel better, you can go cry in the corner until she gets back, just don't interfere with my shot." Emerald didn't enjoy the snide remark from Mercury, but she wasn't offended by it, such was the nature of their relationship. Her standard operating procedure for dealing with Mercury crossing the line was physical abuse, so she punched him in the arm, causing him to bobble his camera.

Once he'd secured his scroll again, he began to refocus it on the Dragon, which was, by this time, clutching to the top of the Tower. "Emerald please. Nobody likes shaky cam footage. Besides, something's happening up there."

They both tried to focus their eyes on what the giant Grimm was doing. Mercury zoomed his scroll to get a better look, revealing that it appeared to be singularly focused on whatever was in the room at the top of the tower. He could feel Emerald's breath on his neck as she looked over his shoulder at the tiny screen.

"If Cinder doesn't do something pretty soon, that thing's gonna take all the glory for itself," Mercury joked. "Then again, if the tower goes down, the tower goes down. Doesn't matter how it happens." Emerald knew he was right. The plan called for the CCTS to be taken down. It didn't specify how.

As they stood huddled around Mercury's scroll, quick flashes of light could be seen in the windows of the room in question. Then, for what seemed like no reason at all, the Dragon pushed away from its perch, and began to fly off into the distance. "I wish that thing would make up its mind," he complained, "My arm's getting tired... aaaaand it's turning around again." There was no clear indication that the beast would slow itself before returning to the tower. "Heeeeere it goes," he said, barely able to contain his excitement.

The Dragon lowered its head, using it as a battering ram, and exploded through the exterior of the great structure, passing through it fully, and emerging from the other side. Huge chunks of cement, metal and glass rained down from above. One of the smaller pieces of glass to fall to the ground was Mercury's scroll, which had immediately switched to displaying only static. He forcefully crushed it with his foot. The dust cloud created in the wake of the impact obstructed their view. "So now, we wait. Terrific."

"I know, you hate waiting. But orders are orders," Emerald said mockingly.

Mercury laughed at the thought of all the things he'd said in the past being thrown back at him. "I'm starting to think I'm spending too much time around you."

"Whatever. You want me," she piled on. Emerald waited a moment to see what kind of reaction she could get, but Mercury wasn't paying attention any more. Instead, he was squinting at the tower again. "What…are you looking at?" she asked.

"Two things," he replied. "Number one. I see a young girl in a red hood running toward… no… wait… now she's running up the side of the tower."

Emerald immediately turned to see what he was describing. Sure enough, it was her. "I thought you took care of her at the coliseum…"

"Number two. I see another young girl dressed in white running from a pack of Grimm towards the entrance at the bottom of the tower." The squint slowly changed into Mercury's signature devious smile. "She got away back at Amity. Ruby's fast, but not all that smart. Probably could've thrown a wrench into our plans if she'd run back the way she came when I found her. I won't make the same mistake twice." He began to head towards the edge of the dormitory roof, clearly intent on leaving it.

"Merc, wait!" she screamed. "Cinder said to wait for new orders. If she comes back and you're not here, you're dead."

"I'm already a ghost, Em. Nobody even knows we're here. I've got an opportunity in front of me. And it's just too good to pass up. Tell ya what. I'll take the heiress, you can have the half-pint. Deal?"

Emerald was clearly torn by the proposal. This wasn't even remotely close to the plan. She also didn't share Mercury's murderous tendencies. "I'm getting bored here Em, I'll take both if you don't want to help. You just stay here and twiddle your thumbs until Cind-"

A blinding flash lit the sky, cutting off not only Mercury's sentence, but his vision as well. Similarly, Emerald cried out in agony as the light burned her eyes. The two of them fell to their knees, trying to find something to hide behind to take shelter from the light. It lasted for only a handful of seconds, before retreating back to its original source.

The effects lasted much longer. At first, the duo writhed around on the roof with blurred vision, dulled senses and equilibriums that had been thrown into turmoil. It felt like an eternity for as many times as Mercury claimed that he was blind. After several minutes passed, the temporary disorientation began to wear off. "What in the name of Grimm was that?" he asked.

Emerald tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head, "I don't know, but it came from the top of the tower. I was looking in that direction when it happened. That's where Ruby went, right?"

"That's right. And that's where I'm going. I need to know what that was." Mercury was clearly agitated that he'd missed the opportunity to have some fun hunting down Weiss, but at least he still had something to do. Better yet, it didn't involve standing on top of the same boring roof he'd been on for the last few hours.

Emerald could finally see about as well as she was able to before the flash, and most of her other senses were returning as well. "Did you conveniently forget about the giant dragon?" she asked. Mercury gave no indication that her question would alter his plans in any way. A quick glance toward the source of the light was all it took to convince him.

"It's not even moving any more. We were out of commission for five minutes, and we're a half mile away. That thing just got the world's fastest laser eye surgery. It'll take time to recover." He hesitated only briefly, before restarting his walk towards the ledge. "I'm not even gonna worry about it."

"Well, you're not going alone," Emerald stated firmly. "I don't particularly care for your little game of cat and mouse. I'm coming because Cinder might need us." His surprised look seemed to indicate that he didn't expect his partner to break from the plan. Either way, he would get to have his fun, so he couldn't complain.

They quickly descended down the side of the building, and began to run toward the clearing between the group of dormitories and the tower. In almost perfect synchronization they stopped, and dove into cover behind the wall of the last building before the courtyard. As they did, a ship flew overhead, hovered for a moment, then set down no more than fifty yards away. Emerald took the corner position, Mercury next to her. She could see the ship by peeking around the edge of the building. They spoke in loud whispers.

"Who is that?" he asked.

Emerald took a long look, then withdrew to her previous hidden stance. "I don't know, they haven't left the ship yet." The sound of a mechanized gate opening caused her to check again. "It's some soldiers, maybe… seven or eight of them, looks like they're from Atlas." She maintained her vigilance for a moment more, "That's bad."

Mercury was not impressed. "I could handle that many soldiers in my sleep. It's not bad."

"That's not what I mean," Emerald insisted. "I see that guy. From the day we attacked the maiden. The one that saved her. The same guy you saw fighting in the courtyard a few days ago." He didn't have to say anything to convey his displeasure with the current situation. Now his hunt would have to wait. Mercury could not risk attacking the huntsman despite being sure he could hold his own in a fight. This guy was a professional, he'd escape with his life, and that would be enough to blow what was left of their cover.

Emerald continued her observation, "Okay, now the huntsman and four... no... five soldiers are moving towards the tower. The other three went back inside the ship and they're closing the gate." She hesitated for a moment, still watching the events unfold across the campus. "They're clearing a path through the Grimm. Mercury, I think we have to follow them."

He was discouraged by this most recent turn of events, but pleasantly surprised at Emerald's newfound ambition. "I was actually just getting comfortable being a ghost. If we follow that guy, our cover is shot. After that, Cinder's gonna make us into real ghosts."

Emerald's concern for her mentor created a clear bias in her thought process. "You do realize that Cinder is still in that building somewhere, right? What if she needs help?"

"I think she can handle herself. I'm still more concerned with the half-pint. She knows about us, so she can't be allowed to talk to that huntsman. Looks like we're gonna have to follow them after all..."

Emerald was not even the least bit interested in Mercury's actual motives for following the task force in front of them, she was just content with finding out where Cinder went, and subsequently finding out what their next move was. They decided not to run straight through the clearing to the tower. The remaining soldiers would surely see them. Instead, they would flank a few hundred yards out to the starboard side of the transport ship, then move to the entrance of the tower from a wide angle, hopefully avoiding suspicion. It was the most tactically sound option.

Fortunately for them, the Grimm were mostly concentrated near the base of the tower, and the huntsman was fighting alongside the soldiers to clear them out. Mercury and Emerald moved as fast as they could along their extremely roundabout path to the entrance. After reaching the furthest point from the ship along the detour, they stopped to confirm that their targets had not detected their presence, and to briefly catch their breath after an extended sprint. By that time, the entrance had been cleared, and they could see the huntsman and his, now three soldier, attachment slowly move into the building.

A quick inspection of the path towards the tower revealed that a number of griffons were circling in the skies above. This gave Mercury an idea. He quickly explained it to Emerald, and then the two moved quickly from cover to cover until they rested outside of the main entrance, behind a knee-high wall separating the grass from the sidewalks.

The doors leading inside were left opened, and it appeared quite dark inside. Without making a sound, Emerald slipped just inside the door. She saw the soldiers, slowly moving away from her towards a damaged elevator shaft, trailing a few feet behind the red-caped huntsman. Knowing that she had not been detected upon entering the room, she signaled for Mercury to follow. Then, she began phase one of their plan. She cleared her mind, and began to construct the image of a large griffon to inject into the perception of their target. Once her illusion was complete, Mercury would land a kick to the huntsman under the guise of a griffon charging with a headbutt, sending him plummeting down the elevator shaft, none the wiser.

Emerald looked over to Mercury, who gave her a thumbs up, their signal to go. The attack would buy them enough time to subdue the soldiers and find a way up the tower. She gathered her concentration, and focused all of it on the huntsman just as he neared the edge of the great hole. Before she could even project the illusion of the griffon, a real one dropped from above him in the elevator shaft, dragging him down with it.

The surprise of it all caused her to break her concentration and look over to Mercury in shock. He just shrugged, happy to be on the good side of fortune. With the threat of the huntsman diminished, he moved quickly to dispatch the soldiers, without the use of weapons. They couldn't risk causing alarm. Simultaneously, Emerald reactivated her semblance, allowing her to peek over the edge down at the dangling huntsman without the risk of being recognized as anything other than a flying Grimm. Satisfied with his predicament, she created the illusion of the griffon as she had originally intended to chase him further down. As he struggled, even more real griffons began to awaken from above. Luck was smiling on her today.

Paying no attention to Mercury, she quickly made her way to one of the intact elevator shafts, pried one of the doors open using the blade form of her pistols, and entered the small room. She looked back to see what was keeping her partner. What she saw sent a chill down her spine as she watched him finish off each one of the soldiers he'd just taken down. The sight of him ending their lives for no reason was horrifying. Emerald knew that none of them had seen their faces. The sneak attack was executed to perfection.

She decided that she couldn't watch any longer. It wasn't a part of the plan to kill those men. Mercury was just so difficult to control, so unpredictable. She hated him for it, but it made him a very effective tool for Cinder's cause, so there was nothing that could be done about it. Emerald motioned to him that she was going to climb up to the roof. He motioned with his index finger that he would be another minute or so behind her.

She quietly removed the ceiling panel inside the elevator car, exposing the cables that she could use to climb to the top floor. Emerald was very nimble, so this was not a problem at all for her. She knew it would be a bit more difficult for Mercury, but he'd still be able to do it. The ascent took no more than two minutes. At the top of the elevator shaft, she had to pry another door open. This proved a bit more difficult with no proper footing available while dangling from a steel cable. Nonetheless, she got the door open and lept into what was left of the, she guessed, office that had been here before.

For the first time in ten minutes she broke silence, but it wasn't intentional. She saw two bodies collapsed on the floor, and instinctively called out to one of them. "Cinder…?" she murmured, as she slowly approached the motionless woman. It felt like every step somehow increased the distance between them. When she finally knelt down next to Cinder, Emerald checked for a pulse first, which was an unnecessarily difficult task with trembling hands. When she found one, she very nearly teared up. But much to her chagrin, no amount of shaking or other stimulation would wake her. She wasn't sure how to proceed. For a few moments, she stared blankly, helplessly, at her leader.

The sounds of Mercury struggling with the ascent broke the trance she'd been in. She began to survey her surroundings, stopping when her gaze fell on the other body. It was smaller, younger, and wearing that distinctive red hood. Emerald held a certain lack of respect for Ruby, but otherwise harbored no ill intent. It had been her mission to deceive and manipulate members of team RWBY for the furtherance of Cinder's plans. But what was happening at this particular moment… was not part of Cinder's plans. She wasn't prepared to let her renegade teammate create more senseless bloodshed.. Emerald decided to improvise.

Mercury's hand reached over the edge of the elevator shaft. "A little help here?" He had to arc his hushed voice over the ledge that he could not yet see over.

Emerald glared at the hand, cleared her mind, and once again activated her semblance. "Yeah, hang on Merc." She carefully placed Cinder back on the ground, and slowly walked towards the arm, before pulling it up along with the rest of her partner. She then returned to Cinder's side. Mercury looked around the room thoroughly. He noticed the dragon, poised menacingly above them. He saw Cinder. There was no half-pint.

"Guess you were right about Cinder... She did need our help. But where's Ruby?" he asked, obviously agitated that he didn't get to pursue either of his targets.

Emerald looked directly at the defenseless young huntress, before turning back to Mercury. She just shrugged. "Looks like we're not the only ghosts around here."


	14. Broken Dreams

Chapter 14: Broken Dreams

"Soaring Ninja Wins! Total Annihilation!"

"AGAIN?" she shouted at the game, clearly frustrated with her inability to defeat Uncle Qrow at this game, let alone an AI-controlled opponent. Her normally golden hair was now emanating a bright, almost fluorescent white color. For the moment, she was under control. Those deep, lilac eyes were enough of an indication of that. _Maybe this isn't the best way to unwind for an evening_ , she thought, before deciding to throw a pillow at her game console to try to switch it off.

The throw was terrible. The pillow was, in fact, not a pillow at all. It was a dog. _Zwei! Mistakes were made,_ she joked.

Zwei let out an almost comical yelp as he landed on the bookshelf below the projection display, which was still mocking Yang with her defeat. If her throw had been a few inches higher, her Corgi would probably be flying towards the ground right about now, several stories below them. "Sorry Zwei! Didn't realize you were laying next to me." Her dog cocked its head slightly to the left, and seemed to acknowledge the apology with light panting and his adorable tongue hanging out.

"I'm done with the TV if you want to watch something else," she said to her dog. Yang lay back on Blake's bed with an exasperated sigh. She had told her team that she just needed a little rest. It was enough to get them to give her a little space, but trying to sleep had been pointless. Too many thoughts were bouncing around inside of her head. Eating didn't do much for her either, considering that the only edible materials in the room were a pop tart that had been on the floor for a month and a lifetime supply of dog food. Unable to concentrate on anything else for the past two hours, Yang had done nothing but think about the previous night's events.

 _I'm NOT lying,_ she reassured herself again, but the evidence to the contrary was all around her. Every conversation in the past day, every video replay of the match, all of it pointed to what she'd done... or not done. Yang wasn't really sure any more. As she stared at the bottom of the bed frame balanced precariously above her, she began to recount the last moments of her fight in great detail… in the way she remembered them.

 _Mercury was clever, and the way that the fight started didn't favor him. His fighting style was based on kicking, which meant that fighting within arm's length was ideal for me. He needed more space than that. Even though he was an exceptionally skilled fighter, his strengths were mostly built around his ability to move unexpectedly through the bursts created by his gun-boot things. We're actually pretty similar in that regard. Firing Ember Celica at range was almost totally pointless, even though I did catch him with it a few times, he could almost always dodge the shot. Using it as a boost to my punches was much more effective._

 _And so we traded blows for a while until I was worn down enough to make it worth activating my semblance to turn the fight back in my favor. After that, five or six solid hits took him down, and the match was over. Maybe it wasn't my finest display of sportsmanship. Maybe "Better luck next time" was an arrogant thing to say. But regardless of what I said, it brings me to the divergence. I distinctly heard Mercury say "There's not going to be a next time, Blondie." in a hushed sort-of under-his-breath cadence. I'm honestly not even sure how his words made it to my ears, now that I think about it. The crowd was cheering, I was cheering and he had landed across the platform from me after my last punch._

 _Despite that, I whipped around pretty quickly. I mean, that sounds a lot like a threat to me. It looked like… No. I saw him lunge at me with a kick. From behind. After the match was called. I did the only thing I could to defend myself. And then… the boo-ing. At first it made sense, like, how could Mercury do something so… underhanded? But the replay screen… it showed something totally different, yet eerily similar all at the same time._

Her flashback was interrupted by the holographic display being switched from its video game input channel to the CCTV channel. Yang made some vain attempts to block out the sound, before deciding that she'd have to get off of Blake's formerly well-kept bed to turn off the television. As she rose from her supine position, she noticed that the voices that were coming from the TV sounded familiar.

"Alright! It is now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!"

The Vytal Festival Tournament was now on the screen, and culprit sat quietly in the center of the room. She looked at Zwei, who had been chewing on the remote control. "I don't think I want to watch this right now." She stood up from her seated position on the end of the bed and took two steps toward her dog. She intended to reached out to free the controls from the jaws of the tiny Corgi, but there was no reaction from her body.

Yang stopped to think about the strange lack of function. _Did my arm fall asleep when I was laying on the bed?_

She glanced quickly down at her unresponsive right arm, as if she had suddenly become unsure that it was even there. The normally vibrant huntress suddenly became pale. Her stomach twisted itself in knots so tight that it hurt to breathe. From just above her elbow, down to the tip of her fingers, there was no Yang. All that remained was a translucent, almost ghostly projection of what had once been her arm. She could not come to grips with the sudden onslaught of mental and physical confusion. She tried to move her ghost arm.

And then, the pain began.

* * *

A blood curdling scream filled every square inch of the pitch black room. Yang was sweating feverishly, her burning red eyes darting back and forth created the only light outside of her equally radiant hair. There was a commotion coming from somewhere else in the room, but the laundry list of uncertainties and physical maladies that had befallen her meant that she couldn't determine the location. She thrashed about under her covers making incoherent half-primal, half-lingual pleas for help.

Then, a pair of freezing cold hands fell upon her. One holding her left arm, the other resting on her forehead. Unable to see the body to whom these hands belonged, Yang attempted to bat them away with her free arm. Another scream filled the room. The pain was now incomprehensible. She had never felt anything even remotely like it… and on top of everything else, there was still no response from her right arm.

She squeezed her eyelids closed instinctively, as if it would make everything better, but it didn't. The noises coming from her mouth still didn't make any sense. Yang was breathing fast, heavy breaths through her nose and her now-clenched teeth. The cold hand on her forehead was now trying to brush her hair out of her face. She still couldn't process thoughts coherently enough to understand any part of what was happening.

The darkness in the room temporarily retreated as a light came, first from the hallway, and then from the lamps connected to the lightswitch that had been flipped. Yang noticed the change in illumination through her eyelids, and attempted to open them to a squint.

The hands now had a body connected to them. A young girl, probably around her own age. She had long, white hair that had been let down, to hang free. Yang knew this girl. She tried to address her, but the name only barely escaped her mouth in the form of a desperate, confused whimper. "Weiss…?"

She slowed her animalistic convulsions as best as she was able, calming down just enough to notice the person responsible for turning on the lights was standing just inside the doorway contemplatively. She attempted to vocalize her thoughts again. "Uncle… Qrow…?"

The familiar faces in the room helped to calm her down. She had forgotten about the pain until she attempted to reach out to Weiss for comfort. There was no response. Again. Just more incredible pain. Yang moaned in agony. For the first time, she shifted her focus to her right arm. Time froze as she absorbed the image into her mind. There was nothing. Bandages… and then… nothing.

The other people in the room were saying something, Yang could see their mouths moving, but she couldn't process any of it. After a few moments, she finally forced herself to turn away from her injury. Her eyes met Weiss's. She unclenched her teeth, letting her jaw hang opened. She wanted to ask so many questions, but suddenly, it didn't really matter to her any more. The darkness began to return to her peripheral vision. She relaxed herself on the bed, and let it overtake her.

* * *

"It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina! From Atlas!"

Yang reconsidered her previous statement to Zwei. "Well, I guess if it's Penny… we can watch. It should be… worth… our time... eh?" Calling it a lukewarm attempt would have been generous. It was hardly her best work.

Zwei was less than impressed. He turned away from Yang to face the broadcast, then dropped the remote on the floor, before laying down on top of it. Some combination of buttons were mashed underneath Zwei, because the display screen turned off. Oddly, the sound continued to play, creating a de facto radio show for the room.

"And her opponent will be… Pyrrha Nikos, from Beacon!"

This most recent announcement piqued her interest. _Pyrrha, oh man. Poor Penny,_ she thought. Looking back toward Zwei, she spoke again "Pyrrha's going to win this tournament. I know you probably don't even really care, but that's my two cents…" _I'll be here all week, ladies and gentlemen._

Yang knew that Pyrrha was the best of the best at Beacon. She had hoped to get a shot against her, but considering the disqualification, any fight between the two would have to wait until next year's tournament. While she fantasized about what a grand spectacle that match would be, the analysts from the tournament broadcast droned on in the background. They rattled off a detailed analysis of fighting styles and physical attributes. It seemed odd that Pyrrha's accolades were nearly endless, but Penny was a bit of an unknown.

Yang shooed Zwei away from the remote, intent on finding a way to bring the picture back. _It's Pyrrha versus Penny. I'm not missing this_ , she mused. After a brief introduction to the two fighters for any newcomers to the tournament, Professor Oobleck prepared to give the countdown to start the fight. "Wait, wait, wait, I'm not ready!" she pleaded with the remote in her hands.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"I got it!" she exclaimed. Zwei had evidently put his paw on the button that controlled the opaqueness of the projection.

"One!"

Yang increased the setting, and the visual display returned just in time for the cue to commence the fight, "Begin!"

She stood in front of the display as Penny began to manipulate her swords masterfully, making the first move. Pyrrha's evasion was even more perfect. Yang was glad she was watching now. Her mood had been pretty depressing all day long, but this took her mind off of her own fight from the previous night. It was completely enthralling. The action was back and forth. One combatant would take the advantage, then the other. They were both skilled in all manners of both ranged and close quarter actions.

The analysts were giving high praise to Penny, and deservedly so. Yang estimated that she had never seen Pyrrha pushed this hard before. _Well, other than that time in the Emerald Forest with the Death Stalker. But I don't think any of those are competing this year._ The thought of a giant scorpion Grimm competing in the tournament made her smile uncontrollably for some reason.

The clash went on, each side trading blow for blow until Pyrrha was knocked off of her feet by a flying charge from Penny. "She dropped her weapon!" Yang was now shouting at the screen, shocked at seeing the four time Mistral-Regional Champion so helpless in a combat situation. And then it happened.

Just as Penny launched what should have been a finishing blow with all of her swords, Pyrrha reflected the blow with her semblance. This time was different though. She never overplayed the use of her polarity. The sheer force of this particular outburst was staggering and even, Yang thought, somewhat reckless. The force of the countermeasure sent the swords careening out of control in the opposite direction. The connective tethers, in some cases, wrapped around Penny and… literally tore her into pieces.

A stunning silence overtook her room. Yang was silent, the analysts were silent, the crowd was silent and Zwei was a dog. The cameras capturing the action from the fight were now focused on the carnage. The first words spoken were by Yang. "What in the world of Remnant…?" she asked rhetorically. Her eyes focused on the sparks and pieces of metal that filled the fleshy exterior of the… girl... she used to know.

Memories from the previous night now crept back into Yang's head. _This is a whole separate mess_ , she thought. It hurt her to think that now someone else would have to share in her misery and depression. Actually, now that she thought about it, it wasn't a mental pain, she had begun to ache all over her body.

She turned away from the TV just as Professor Port pleaded in disbelief, "...no…" A few moments passed before he spoke again. "She's waking up!"

 _Wait, what? Who's waking up?_ Yang wondered, also still contemplating the sudden pain.

* * *

"She's waking up! Get the doctor... Quickly!"

The pain was greatly reduced this time, as Yang opened her eyes again to the same unfamiliar room as before. Her vision was blurry, but this time, she could tell that there was light coming from the lamps and also from an unknown source off to her left somewhere. She also saw another bed in the same direction as the mystery light, but her eyes weren't cooperating enough to be able to identify the shadowy figure laying on it.

"They've got you on pain medication kiddo, so maybe a little less screaming this time," a garbled voice said from the other side of the room.

The lag in her physical reaction times and movement made her feel like she was in a pool full of chocolate pudding. "I like pudding," she declared to her audience of blurs and scribbles. There was an audible laughter, but Yang didn't understand why. Suddenly, a face appeared within a few inches of her own. It was familiar, but the haze that had enveloped her brain was too thick for carefully chosen words. "Hey… I remember you, ice-hands lady," she babbled.

"Well of course, THAT, would be the thing she remembers," Weiss complained. Shaking off the unintentional insult, she spoke slowly and clearly, "How are you feeling?"

Without the ability to move much, or feel much because of the painkillers, she responded as honestly as she could. "Something hurts… and nothing feels good... I can't see much... and I'm still really tired."

The other voice spoke up from across the room. "All things considered, that's not too bad. Try to keep resting, Yang. When you feel up to it, we all need to talk to you about… a lot of stuff that happened while you were out of it."

A barely audible "Okay..." was the only response she was able to give before passing out again.

Qrow took up a position leaning against the wall next to her bed. "Sweet dreams, firecracker."


	15. Lilac

Chapter 15: Lilac

"The White Fang is Here?", Blake asked in a panic.

Yang was unsure how to respond. It wasn't as if she didn't know the answer, but holding a scroll in her hand while staring down three beowolves would introduce an element of impossibility to an already challenging situation. Her goal had been to escape the dormitory. What to do after that was anyone's guess. Maybe she could link up with her team, or another team. Finding three beowolves inside of the building was not high on her list of things she had looked forward to doing today. She quickly backtracked down the hall she had come from, towards her team's room. The Grimm howled as they began their pursuit.

Blake was able to hear the monsters through the scroll. Although she couldn't see the things Yang could see, Blake knew that her teammate was in a dangerous situation. She let out a desperate cry, 'Yang?!' There was nothing she could do, but she wanted to hear her friend say that she was alright.

Yang didn't have time to make small talk, or any kind of talk, really. In a closed space like this, a battle with a beowolf would be an incredibly dangerous ordeal. The usual strategy of outmaneuvering was not viable in a hallway only slightly larger than the beast itself. Of course, it would all become irrelevant if she was too busy talking to Blake to avoid being mauled by the Grimm.

There was no time to unlock the door to her room, so she was forced to run past it. At the end of the hallway, there were corridors leading to the left and right. To the left were elevators, which would be useless considering the time it would take to call them. To the right, laundry rooms. Since it really didn't matter, and neither option was an escape route, she chose right. "Ugh, gotta go! Be careful!", she told Blake hurriedly before ending the call and stowing her scroll away for safekeeping. She turned around just as the first beowolf rounded the corner behind her.

Yang considered her situation. _So, I've got nowhere to run, nowhere to hide… and I'm all out of cliches to use. It looks like fighting is the only option._ The beowolf stepped towards her slowly, clearly trying to intimidate the much smaller girl. When she stood her ground, the beast became enraged, possibly insulted by her fortitude. It lunged toward her with a reckless swipe of its right claw. Yang jumped backward to a knee, landing with both arms behind her, and launched herself forward with a blast from both the left and right chambers of her Ember Celica. Using her weapon-fire as a propellant had become one of her signature moves. In this case, she connected with a heavy right hook to the beowolf's head. It was pretty close to a free shot, as her foe was still recoiling from the follow through of its original attack.

The impact sent the Grimm flying backwards down the short hall past the connecting corridor leading back to her room, and through a wall that had formerly been the dead end opposite of her current position. It was a successful engagement, but it didn't buy very much time. The other two beowolves thundered down the corridor and around the corner, just as the first one had.

Acting on instinct, Yang got as much of a running start as she could, steadily firing a creeping barrage of rounds from her gauntlets at the ceiling above her opponents as she ran. The strategy worked. The dust and debris that was blasted loose from above blocked their line of sight. When she assumed that she was close enough, Yang dropped to a feet-first slide that allowed her to pass under the first set of legs. She planted her leading foot in the ground, using the momentum from her running start to force her body upright into the space between the two monsters. Then, pointing her left and right arms in opposite directions, toward a beowolf on either side of her, she unleashed several rounds into each of them. It wouldn't be enough to score a kill, but at least it disoriented them enough that she could get back to her room. At a full sprint, she made it there in seconds.

She slammed the door behind her upon re-entering the room she'd only left five minutes ago. Zwei was still here, chewing on what appeared to be… "Zwei. Seriously. The entire closet is full of dog food, and you eat a month old floor pop tart," she said with a visible disgust on her face. The only reply that she got was a short yelp, and some tail wagging.

Little had changed in her room since she'd left it. From her window, she could still see transport ships at the docks, but they did not appear to be off-loading Grimm any more. The television displayed only static now. The fight she had previously been tuned into ended in a dismemberment. For a short time, the audience was left in a terrifying state of shock at what had happened. Then there was that voice. It spoke over the video feed. It… She warned of treachery and institutionalized warmongering, but Yang had not detected even the slightest insincerity from the professors and headmasters that she had met..

Her recollection of the evening's events was interrupted by the fist of a beowolf bursting through her door. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?" She asked angrily, before firing two rounds back through the door. For a moment, the attacker was staggered, but another was quick to take the place of the first. Yang thrust her arm forward to fire again, but there was no blast. Just an empty click. _Idiot_ , she thought. _I must really be off my game today_.

Very quickly, Yang ejected all of the empty shells from her gauntlets, and wrapped a fresh belt onto each arm. The process didn't take more than a few seconds, but it was enough of a delay that the second intruder had smashed the door off of its hinges. She loaded the first round into each chamber, took aim, and watched as Zwei flew from across the room to headbutt a beowolf easily ten times his own size in the stomach, apparently knocking the breath out of it. She was speechless. _Note to self. Feed. Zwei. More. Poptarts._

The beowolf tried to get up, but Yang kicked its arms out from under it. She stood over her fallen foe triumphantly, before firing a blast into the back of its head. For a moment it was quiet again, save for the rustle of black ashes scattering across the floor. Then the sounds of combat returned. This time, they were different. The howling and scratching of a pack of Grimm had faded into the chaotic rat-a-tat of small arms fire coming from outside her window. She stood in anticipation of the missing third beowolf, but it didn't come.

By now, Zwei had recovered from his kamikaze attack, and was trotting towards the wreckage that had formerly been known as a door. As if there was no risk at all, he continued his march until he stood squarely in the center of the hallway. Yang slapped her own forehead at the sight, wondering how anyone could be so oblivious to danger. Zwei turned back toward her, indicating that there was nothing to observe.

As she approached the entryway to the room, Yang noticed that the beowolf that she had blind-fired through the door had flown across the hallway and through the wall into Team Juniper's room. Visibility inside the room was limited due to the shroud of dust that was created by the destruction of the wall. Zwei had lost interest in playing the role of the lead scout, so he headed back into the room, intent on finishing his meal.

Stepping up to the hole in the wall, Yang attempted to peer inside the room, but something stirring down the hall forced her to turn her attention away. The third beowolf was limping around the corner at an incredibly slow pace. Despite this, it still appeared intent on destroying her. She faced herself down the hall toward her enemy, crouched, and prepared to charge. In its weakened state, Yang knew this wouldn't even be a fight. As it turned out, she was wrong. A giant black claw lunged out from the smokescreen that she had been investigating moments before, catching the unsuspecting huntress squarely in the abdomen.

She stumbled away, absorbing the blow as gracefully as she could. Laughing at the apparent insignificance of the attack, she began to taunt her attacker, "Ha! You've gotta do better than-" _...I can't breathe._ Staggering backwards awkwardly, Yang found herself irritated that her body had failed so miserably to take a single hit. One blow had reduced her to a gasping heap of humanity. The beowolf responsible for the sneak attack was now climbing back through the hole in the wall. It snarled when it laid eyes on her, almost as if it could sense weakness. Yang attempted to retreat down the hallway to give herself more time to recover, but from her hunched over position, she didn't make much progress.

A few pot shots slowed the advance of the beowolf, but failed to buy enough time for her to fully catch her breath. The closer of the two enemies leapt toward her. In her current state, she was not fast enough to evade the attack. The impressive mass of the beowolf was now bearing down on her. Yang now found herself on her back, inches away from a mouth full of teeth that was snapping at her face. The only thing keeping her from being ripped to shreds was her legs. She had lodged them into the stomach of her attacker. At first, she tried to push the giant beast away, but with her limited breathing ability, the strength simply wasn't there.

Yang tried to train her gauntlets on the beowolf, but it's long arms were pinning her own to the ground. It was more or less a stalemate, but sheer weight and force of strength favored the Grimm. She could do little more than try to wrestle her arms free. Yang was able to see down the hallway, and to her dismay, the second beowolf was slowly getting closer. She began to struggle more urgently, realizing that time was now running out for her. A loud howl escaped the mouth of the monster on top of her, as if to indicate that its victory was inevitable. Yang screamed back in its face as loud as she could, to almost no effect.

Almost.

The sound of Yang in peril was the cue for Zwei to wander back into the hall. He looked immediately toward his distressed master. From his perspective, she was in trouble, but from the same perspective, Zwei couldn't see the second beowolf closing in from behind him. It wound up a mighty backhand swipe with its claw, and swatted the small dog into a wall. He landed on the ground on his side, and lay motionless for a few moments. It was enough to trigger Yang's intrinsic protective instincts.

"Zwei! Get up boy!", she shrieked. The outburst compromised some of her strength, and the teeth got closer, but it also compromised her emotions. In the span of a single blink, her beautiful lilac eyes became terrifyingly crimson. The beowolf noticed this change, cocking its head to the side, unsure how to interpret what was happening to his prey.

Yang pulled her legs back quickly, and used all of her available strength to shift her body to the left. She didn't move much, but the beowolf hadn't expected the resistance from her legs to end so suddenly. Its head flew past hers, and smashed into the floor next to her. Finally free from the crushing weight, she swung her left fist around, landing a powerful blow to the midsection of the beowolf. Then another. And another. She fired a dozen rounds into the monster until it began to turn to ash. Yang's shortness of breath was no longer affecting her.

She turned her fiery eyes toward the half of a beowolf still standing in the hallway before her. Letting out a mighty scream, Yang charged it. Along the warpath, she fired several more rounds, using the last of her ammunition. She didn't care. The wounded Grimm was over-matched by the intensity of her semblance. She landed punch after punch on the easy target, even with no added effect from her weapon. After a seemingly endless barrage of lefts and rights, the last beowolf was no more.

For a moment, she relished her victory. Then the beautiful, caring eyes returned. "Zwei!? Are you alright?", she cried. Her dog was still lying in the hall, but now he was squirming a bit. She moved quickly, and knelt down next to him. Yang held him close, in her arms. "Ya know, if you didn't keep saving me, I'd probably be pretty mad at you right now." Zwei slowly turned his head to acknowledge the concerns by licking her on the cheek. "You're the worst," she said sarcastically. It was fairly obvious that her tiny partner wasn't in great shape.

Yang had seen better days too. Her knuckles were bruised from the savagery of her most recent attack. She didn't feel it, of course. The adrenaline was still flowing through her, but for the moment, her judgement was not clouded. "We've got to get to the docks. Thats where we'll find the others," she told her dog.

The trip down to the first floor was far less perilous than the earlier melee. Yang decided to take the elevators down. The odds of encountering hostile forces of any kind, Grimm or otherwise, would be greatly reduced. The lobby of the dormitory was completely deserted. There were some signs of conflict. Black ashes were scattered across the ground level, and there were cracks in the walls and floor. From her current position, the sounds of battle were more exaggerated than they had been from several stories up.

As she stepped outside, Yang could see soldiers fighting against other soldiers, which made no sense to her. The Grimm were everywhere, and the White Fang seemed to be causing chaos wherever they could. In an attempt to avoid engaging in a conflict while carrying a dog, she stayed clear of everything that had the potential to be even remotely hostile. The docks were a reasonably short run from her dormitory.

Upon arriving, it became clear that some of Beacon's faculty was attempting to set up an evacuation. Yang's flowing golden hair must have been difficult to miss. She was immediately identified by Oobleck.

"Miss Xiao Long. It's good to see that you've made it here. If you'll hurry, we'll get you aboard a transport ship, and you will be taken to the safe zone in Vale immediately."

"Uh, sorry professor-" she started.

"Doctor…"

"Right, doctor. So... I'm still trying to find the rest of my team. I came here to leave Zwei with someone. He's a little banged up right now, so I don't want to take him back into a war zone."

Oobleck was a bit miffed by the way Yang brushed off his invitation. "I apologize if I was unclear, but there will be no returning to Beacon. This is a mandatory evac... Hey!"

Yang had already turned and started to run back towards the center of the academy. "Thanks for taking care of Zwei, professor!"

He stood silently for a moment, before turning to his colleague, deflated. "It's… doctor..." Professor Port placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head, before walking away unphased by Oobleck's struggle.

As Yang neared the heart of Beacon Academy, she could see a white Paladin off in the distance. It charged towards the base of Beacon Tower where, it looked like there was a small group banded together prepared to engage it. She was still unsure of the reasons why Atlesian units were fighting other Atlesian units and students, but the only way to understand it was to investigate it herself. Running as fast as she could, Yang still only made it halfway to the battlefield before she watched the huge metal monster shut down and slide to a stop mere feet in front of… "Weiss?"

There was still no time for small talk or pleasantries. Yang was glad to see that her teammate was ok, but now she was concerned with the well being of Ruby and Blake. Weiss pointed her in the direction that Blake had run to chase the Alpha Beowolf, and within moments, Yang was in pursuit, although not particularly excited about the prospects of fighting more beowolves.

She felt terrible for leaving Weiss the way she did. Her teammate looked completely exhausted. Yang made a mental note to do something nice for her some time, but her missing friend was somehow more important.

As Yang searched for Blake, thoughts began to swirl in her mind. _What's she thinking… going after an Alpha on her own? You have to be smarter than that, Blake. I swear… if there's a scratch on her, I'll strangle that thing with my belt._ She felt so many emotions. Some of them made sense. Fear and helplessness were easy to explain, her teammate could be in trouble. But there was a certain emptiness inside of her. She couldn't reconcile it with reasoning or logic. The feeling just ate away at her.

Every few seconds, Yang called out to Blake. There were no responses. The only group interested in answering the call were scattered members of the White Fang, but they were easily dispatched now that her gauntlets were reloaded. The search was getting her nowhere. If Blake was nearby, she would answer. She called out one more time, "Blaaaaaaake?"

Silence prevailed. Yang tried to reason with her racing mind. _Come on Blake. Where are you? Give me something. Anything._

'Anything' turned out to be a poor choice for a request. An unmistakable, shrill scream pierced through the ambient sounds of battle. Yang turned toward the source, only to see Blake at the mercy of a tall, red haired man wearing a Grimm mask. He stood over her silently, his blade piercing her midsection. He looked at Yang irreverently, before removing the blade without even the slightest show of emotion.

Yang's mind raced to try to understand the circumstances of what she was witnessing. Her eyes met Blake's, and for a moment, she couldn't even begin to think of what to say or do. Everything went blank while she absorbed the sight of her closest friend, possibly in her final moments.

Even with a significant wound, Blake tried to vocalize something.. She spoke softly, and with great pain, making herself difficult to understand. "No… please…"

Yang didn't even have to think about the warning. It was irrelevant. Blake was in a situation where her demise was one possible outcome, and that could not be allowed to happen. She offered one warning to the nameless aggressor. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

His only reaction was to sheath his weapon.

Her only reaction was blind rage. The fire returned, and yet, fear for Blake's life still caused tears to well in her eyes. With a double blast from Ember Celica, Yang propelled herself into a full frontal attack on this unknown assailant. She cocked her right arm back in mid-flight, prepared to put everything on the line to save her friend. In less than an instant, it was over. She tumbled helplessly through the air. Her fire left her almost as quickly as it had arrived. For a brief moment, she remained conscious, but there was no time to try to understand what had gone wrong. The light was fading in her lilac eyes, and with it, the exuberance that had, up until this point, defined the very fabric of who she was.


	16. Six Mill-Lien Dollar Man

Chapter 16: Six Mill-Lien Dollar Man

The smell of something chocolatey was the first sensory detail that Yang noticed when she returned to the world of the living. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she was awake. A quick sniff confirmed that it was, as far as she could tell, chocolate, not another insane dream or flashback.

"Hey! Ren! Look! Is she… smiling?" A voice asked from across the room.

 _Am I smiling?_ She wondered. Smell was the first sensation to return, but it would not be the last. Her thoughts were much more collected and organized now than they had been. Yang remembered the excruciating pain from her first attempt to wake up, and then the drug-induced super haze from the second.

This time, she was acutely aware of a sharp pain in what remained of her right arm. Other than that, the rest of her side effects were manageable. The fragrance that had permeated the room reminded her of waking up to the smell of chocolate chip cookies when she was a young girl growing up in Patch. The thought of Summer walking into the room with a warm plate of fresh cookies made Yang realize that, _Yeah, I guess I am smiling._ She decided it was time to open her eyes.

As she slowly began to open her eyes, she was reminded that it had been some time since she'd used them. Yang wasn't sure how long she had been out, but it would take a while for her eyes to readjust to the light. For now, she would settle for a squint. The colors and shapes around her began to coalesce into people and things.

The sound of footsteps approaching from the right inclined Yang to turn to acknowledge Nora's presence. "Hey sleepyhead!" It was the same voice from before. Her eyes opened a bit further with the short passage of time, allowing her to make out the shape of Ren kneeling on the other side of the room. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but he turned toward her to acknowledge her awakening with a smile.

"It's good to see that you're doing so well in your recovery." Ren was always very concise. No one expected a long, dramatic speech from him.

Nora chimed in, "Ren's been working on making some food for you. He made you some poison vegetable juice too, but I… accidentally knocked it over..." she changed to a whisper, "...you can thank me later…"

An angry, "Nora…!" Came from the other side of the room.

She finally finished adjusting to the brightness around her, opening her eyelids to their normal, relaxed positions. Words were still slow to form, but Yang managed what she considered the most important question at a time like this. "Chocolate?"

"Oh, yeah! Someone said you were talking about chocolate pudding this morning when you were awake. I may or may not have but probably actually did smuggle an electric cooking plate into your room for Ren to make pudding with." Nora was clearly pleased with her team's ability to help their ailing friend.

Ren spoke up again, this time to Nora, "Weren't we supposed to go find someone when Yang woke up?" The question caused her to tense up a bit, as if she'd forgotten something of great importance.

"Right! I'll be back as soon as I can!"

Nora ran out of the room, showing almost no signs of her recovering bruised ribs. Yang knew how little Ren would probably have to say if left to his own devices, so she decided to try to catch up on some of the things she'd missed. "Ren, thanks for all of this. Nora too."

"There is no need to thank us for this. We're doing what we can to help while we recover ourselves." He stood up, rubbing his midsection gently. "It's literally all that they'll let us do."

Up until that point, Yang hadn't been especially observant. She had been focusing on her two caretakers, and the pot full of molten chocolate pudding, since opening her eyes. "What else is there to do?"

"While you slept last night and this morning, the Grimm started to push into some of the outlying sections of the safe zone here in Vale. Anyone healthy enough pretty much volunteered to join the fight. It sounds much better than sitting here all day."

"So, it's tough to meditate when Nora's around?" Yang asked bluntly.

"Yes. Impossible," he said dryly. "I thought I would be alone here with the two of you, but after a while, Nora joined us."

For a moment, Yang considered what Ren meant by 'two of you'. When she looked to her left, the almost jovial atmosphere was crushed by the gravity of the realization that she wasn't the only patient in the room. She'd been awake for some time now, and not once had she noticed her younger sister on the second bed, resting silently. Her voice trembled a bit at the sight. "R-Ruby?"

Ren turned his attention away from the pudding to address Yang directly. "No one knows what happened. Weiss found her at the top of Beacon Tower, unconscious, just like she is now." The door to the room creaked as it swung open slowly, but Yang either didn't hear it or didn't care.

The sight of her sister being so still sent her into a frenzy. "Wait, what was she doing all the way up there? Was she alone? How does nobody know what happened?" A flood of questions filled her head, but the emptiness of the expression on Ren's face indicated to Yang that she wasn't the only one who didn't have all of the answers. "Is she alright? How long has she been like this?"

"Yang, please… just calm down," her uncle said as he casually walked around the corner. "There's a lot of moving pieces right now. No one has all of the answers. If you want-"

She raised her voice for the first time since waking up, "Calm down?! I've been asleep for… I don't even know how long... I don't know where I am, or how I got here, or where the rest of my team is… Where Blake is! I don't know how you expect me to calm do-"

"Two days. A hospital in Vale. Blake carried you to the docks up at Beacon. Weiss is across the hall getting sleep for really the first time since she and I brought Ruby back here a day and a half ago." Qrow was visibly upset with his niece's outburst, even though he understood the reasons for it. "I can answer some of your questions Yang. You just need to let this conversation happen naturally. I promise, it'll make more sense that way." She looked down at her sheets, still unsatisfied, but more accepting of the notion that in time, she would have answers.

Silence prevailed for a few seconds before, of all people, Ren spoke up. "I'm going to… put this in the fridge to cool. I'll be back later." He nodded to both Qrow and Yang, turned, and walked toward the door. As he rounded the corner, he could be heard saying "Nora, I think we should go back to the room for a little while." before moving on down the hall.

In Ren's wake, General Ironwood stepped into the room. He had previously been flanked by Nora, until the two teammates decided to give everyone a little extra space. "Qrow, I need to speak to Yang for a moment. If it's alright with you, I'd like to do it alone."

Qrow took his best guess with regards to what this might be about, before acquiescing to the general's request. "Absolutely, General. I forgot to put on my big boy pants anyway. I'll be outside when you're done." He turned to leave the room, but stopped before disappearing out of sight to give Yang a smile and a wink.

The general thanked his sarcastic ally for his cooperation, and waited patiently for him to leave the room. He closed the door behind Qrow, and locked it. As he walked back to the center of the room, he looked at Ruby first, then made eye contact with Yang. "I'm… inexplicably sorry for everything." He paused for a moment, shifting his gaze to her right arm.

Yang still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about her own injury, let alone how she felt about others pitying her constantly. She was angry that no one was answering her questions or filling in the empty spaces that had created a huge void in her memory over the last two days. But for the sake of being a good audience, she did her best to maintain a stern expression. She also came to the conclusion that she would not accept pity from others. "I… There was nothing you could have done. I put myself in a bad situation without really understanding it. You shouldn't be sorry for me."

Ironwood matched her stern expression, "So then. You've learned a valuable lesson from all of this. You're stronger than I thought."

Yang was somewhat irritated by the tone of his statement, "Well, yeah… but it doesn't matter now, does it? I can't do this any more." This realization hit her particularly hard. The adventure, the friends, the stories, all of it had been ripped away from her. "My days of being a huntress are over. How can I protect people when I'm only half of a person myself?"

He hesitated for a moment. The thought crossed his mind to try to explain the cause of his own physical tribulations. Instead, he came up with a more delicate way to convey his thoughts. "You have a choice, Yang. This does not have to be the end for you."

"What are you gonna do... grow me another arm? Maybe see if there's a guy with three arms somewhere who wants to donate one?" Her snark earned a disapproving look from the general, who chose to overlook the comment. After all, there was no rule that said she had to be happy about her current situation.

"In a manner of speaking…" he said, as he raised his right hand in front of him. "Atlas is home to the pinnacle of scientific research and development. Surely, you saw what happened to Ms. Polendina in the tournament?" Yang nodded. "Penny, as you likely knew her, was designed, developed and built in Atlas. Thousands of people believed that she was just a normal competitor. There were… some… that knew the truth." A frown formed on Ironwood's face. "The fact of the matter is, the technology that we used for Penny, can be applied to your… situation. It's been thoroughly tested and proven to stand up to the trials of combat."

"I don't know if we both saw the same fight, general. Right now? Penny isn't standing up to much of an-y-thi…." Her trivializing rebuttal was cut short by the sight of the proud general removing the white glove on his right hand, revealing a sleek, polymer prosthetic, protected by a metal exterior. He showed off its range of movement by spreading his fingers apart, and clenched his fist to prove its strength. Yang was speechless for a time, while Ironwood showed off the practicalities of his cybernetics. Eventually, she was able to summon the will to inquire further. "What happened to you?" She asked bluntly.

"Classified. What you are seeing is not exactly… common knowledge, and I would prefer to keep it that way." Yang was still fixated on the mechanical hand, but her attention snapped back to General Ironwood once she realized that he required her acknowledgement."

"Yeah, sure. Of course." The young huntress still wasn't quite sure what all of this meant for her.

"What happened to me... makes what happened to you look like a skinned knee." Ironwood began to remove his coat, tossing it on the chair behind him. Yang was confused by the sudden change in his mannerisms. Up until now, he'd been pacing back and forth across the room. Now, the general had stopped, and was meticulously unbuttoning his vest, and loosening his tie. "I hope my demonstration is not in some way offensive to you. I mean nothing other than to show you what the possibilities are for you, if you so choose."

Yang's curiosity caused her to remain silent until Ironwood could finish doing whatever he was doing. By now, he was undressed to the point that the only things remaining were his boots, trousers, belt, and black undershirt. As he began to remove the shirt, Yang's eyes opened wide and she covered her now ajar mouth with her left hand. An audible gasp escaped from the young huntress.

The shirt was draped over his coat, vest and tie on the chair. "Miss Xiao Long. I want you to understand that your injury, while serious in nature, does not make you… half of a person. While it's true that you may not be exactly the same person that you were, I can assure you that your days of being a huntress are far, far from over… should you choose them to be." Yang wanted to say something, anything. The sensory overload from what she was seeing left her at a loss for words. Tears began to form in her eyes. General Ironwood picked up on this, and continued. "Do not rush this decision, Yang. It can only be made with the blessing of both your heart and your mind. Even though I can offer you a path to redemption, you must decide for yourself whether it's worth taking."

She stared intently at the half man, half robot standing in front of her. After a few moments, he turned to the hastily organized pile of clothes behind him, and began to dress himself again. He was interrupted by Yang's response. "I will. Take some time with this, I mean. I want to be normal again… that much I know for sure. There's just some… things I have to figure out for myself first. So I guess... I can't give you an answer right now. But as soon as I know, you'll know."

"I understand. And I think you should know that you're handling all of this with a lot of composure… More than I could muster when I was in your position." He was still not wearing his vest, tie and overcoat, but he walked to the bedside, next to Yang. Reaching into the folded coat in his arm, he pulled out a tiny rectangular piece of paper with an address scribbled on it, and offered it to her. "If you decide to go through with this, that's where you'll need to go. It's in Atlas, unfortunately. The facilities to make this sort of thing possible do not exist in Vale. I can not promise how much longer I'll be staying in this Kingdom, but please, try not to let that affect your decision making process."

She took the paper, and held it for a moment while she considered where to store it. She realized that the clothes she currently wore were not her own, so she put it in the awkwardly large pocket on the front of her hospital gown. "Thank you," was all she said. It was all she had to say. Ironwood let a smile slip for the first time since entering the room. He knew that in the coming battles, fighters with the skill and tenacity of this girl would be at a premium.

The room was quiet after that. Yang had returned to inspecting her bandaging, and occasionally looking to her left, as if she didn't want to miss Ruby waking up. Ironwood donned his full military uniform, and gave Yang a nod on his way to the door. He turned the lock on the door, and pulled it open. To his surprise, a large crowd had gathered in the hall, and each member of it looked at him as if he had some kind of news to share.

Qrow's voice was the first one to speak up. "How'd it go?" Before a response could be given, he continued, "Don't answer that. The important thing is that I get a chance to talk to her before the parade of visitation begins." Ironwood vacated the doorway, and extended his arm back towards the room, indicating to Qrow that he was more than welcome to enter. "Thank you, General," he said politely, so as not to belittle his authority in front of the crowd.

He entered the room with a purpose, leaving the door open behind him. No one else dared to follow. Qrow walked directly to the chair that had seen so much use over the past few days. He lifted it, rotated it around, and sat on it backwards, leaning against the end of Yang's bed. The two made eye contact, which Qrow used to gauge her frame of mind. It lasted for half of a minute, before he was satisfied with the information he'd gathered. Then he spoke.

"Let's talk."


	17. Dousing the Flame

Chapter 17: Dousing the Flame

At least half of an hour had passed by the time Qrow finished explaining the evacuation of Beacon, the establishment of the safe zone in Vale, the fall of the CCTS, and the mysterious flash of light. Yang took most of the news about as well as she could be expected to. For the most part, she had just remained silent and attentive, even though she already knew about the evacuation and the safe zone from her meet-up with Oobleck. Her primary concern had been her close friends and allies. Since the things Qrow explained involved none of those, it was all very unsatisfying to her. She didn't have the knowledge of the moving pieces in the background. Only Ozpin's closest and most trusted allies knew such sensitive information. As far as Qrow was concerned, Yang didn't need to worry about any of that right now.

He allowed his chair to fall back to its resting position on all four legs. From there, Qrow could see out into the hall, where most of the other visitors waited. He picked out a few faces from the crowd, just in case he couldn't answer one of the, in his estimation, four thousand questions he would have to entertain very soon. In doing so, he broke conversation with Yang for just a few seconds too long, and she pounced on the opportunity. "So… where's Ruby fit into all of this?"

"I was getting there," Qrow replied. He retold the story of his journey to the vault, once again leaving out sensitive information about dead maidens. "When Weiss and I made it to the top of the tower, we found Ruby. She was face down in the rubble of what had been the upper half of the top floor. That dragon caused the structural damage, but I can't tell you what happened to Ruby. I don't think anyone can. Well, at least not any more."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

There was a long pause before Qrow let out an apprehensive sigh, "Pyrrha went up there to try to stop the woman responsible for starting this whole mess. If anybody could tell us what happened to Ruby, she'd be our best bet."

"You're slippin' old man, even I know that we just have to ask Pyrrha what she saw up there. I'm actually surprised that you didn't figure that out yourself," she said confidently, despite a lingering feeling that she wasn't being told the whole story. After all, it was a major oversight by her uncle.

The professional huntsman found himself upset about the 'old man' comment from his niece. It caused him to retort more aggressively, more bluntly than he intended. "There is no more Pyrrha, Yang." He stopped for a moment, realizing how his words must have sounded. Yang stared at him, expressionless, wide-eyed. "Uh, I didn't mean for it to come across like that. When we got to the top of the Tower, we found Pyrrha's tiara, and her shield. She's gone."

"Pyrrha's… she's… no... I watched her fight… " It was at this moment, an emotional low point, that Yang started to understand the seriousness of everything happening around her. This wasn't only some sick game that a psychopath was playing to leverage their power. This was a war, and people were dying while she lay, resting in her stupid bed. _Well no more_ , she thought. She threw the blankets that were covering her onto the floor. The abrupt re-introduction to physical activity caused pain to shoot through her right arm, which she fool heartedly ignored. Even though she hadn't used them in what seemed like forever, Yang assumed that after seventeen years of practice, she could manage the use of her legs. She pivoted in her bed, draping her legs off the left side.

Qrow jumped up from his chair, "Whoa whoa whoa! You can't-" was all he was able to blurt out before Yang pulled herself up by her left arm, using the nightstand between the two beds as support. Qrow rushed to the aid of his niece, concerned that she wasn't ready for any level of physical activity, let alone walking around. He reached out to help, "You shouldn't be out of-"

"Stop it," she lashed out verbally, while simultaneously swatting Qrow's hand away. The defensive action, combined with a complete lack of balance caused by her missing right arm, as well as an exacerbated weakness in her legs sent her tumbling backwards. It was the lamp on top of the nightstand, not the delusional young huntress that took the fall. The metal light clanged as it hit the ground, and the bulb exploded with a bright flash. Unphased by her close call, Yang pulled herself up, yet again, and faced Qrow directly. "I. Have. To. Do. This."

Qrow gave her space, afraid of what would happen if she tried to parry him again. "Do what, Yang?"

"Don't you understand? People are dying. Pyrrha. Died. Penny. Died. Ruby is… I don't even know. Blake needed me. She still needs me and I haven't even seen her...or heard from her in..." Her train of thought was broken by the onset of tears in her eyes.

Qrow tried to reason with her, "The people we're up against are more powerful than you could ever imagine. What chance would you have now, if you couldn't help Blake when you were at full streng-"

A left hook caught Qrow in the jaw. The exertion sent the emotionally charged, but physically drained Yang twisting toward the ground. Her reflexes tried to catch her, but failed to compensate for her injury, which was one of the principal points of impact with the floor. She let out the most agonizing scream since waking up the most recent time, causing a stir in the hallway. Qrow stumbled back a few steps, before looking back to Yang with an uncharacteristically shocked expression on his face.

There were now tiny cuts on her legs and feet, most likely originating from the shards of exploded light bulb that littered the area. Her eyes burned again, but tears continued to flow from them. Even despite all of her afflictions, she was still trying to claw her way back to an upright position. Qrow slowly walked towards Yang, watching her. As he neared, she lost her grip on the mattress she'd been clinging to, and slumped back to the floor. She now sat on the ground, with her back up against the side of her bed. Her left hand was doing its best to cover her face as she cried.

Qrow sat down on the ground next to her, ignoring the glass that sliced through various parts of his cloak and trousers. As calmly as he could manage, he spoke, "You're putting me in a really uncomfortable position. In like, three or four different ways." He saw that Yang had no intention to respond, so he kept going, "Pyrrha… she didn't do what she did to prove that she could. She did it because she had to. She did it to try to save the world… and the people in it. She would have told you it was her destiny as a huntress to fight tooth and nail, trying to protect her friends. That's what it means to do what we do, Yang. We have to exhaust every single possible option to help each other." He put his arm around Yang.

"Even then… it doesn't always work out like in the fairy tales. Pyrrha did what she felt she had to do. I'm not gonna pretend to know what happened up on that tower, but one way or another, Ruby survived." Yang looked up at Ruby. It still wasn't a comforting feeling to see her normally hyperactive sister like this. But Qrow was right. She was alive. "You did what you needed to do, too. Who knows what would've happened to Blake if you didn't come along." He paused while she tried to stop her tears. "Tell ya what. Why don't we get you off of this floor and back into the bed?"

She still didn't respond to his words, but Yang did begin to try to pull herself up, this time using the nightstand as a crutch. Qrow offered help, only to be refused again by the suddenly impersonal girl. He was able to get himself to his feet much more quickly than Yang, but her apparent reluctance to speak meant that he was just watching for more than a few seconds. It was unfortunate timing for him, as the commotion from before had awoken Weiss. From across the hall, she stormed into the room. When she saw Qrow hovering over her train wreck of a teammate, she snapped.

"What are you doing!?" Yang and Qrow were both caught off guard by her appearance in the doorway. Neither was sure who was being addressed. Weiss showed no hesitation as she marched across the room, past Qrow, and directly to Yang. She was very careful to avoid causing any discomfort as she helped Yang to her feet and onto the bed, then sat down next to her. She glared aggressively at Qrow, who was still watching the entire scene unfold. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Yang is in no condition to be out of bed," she said as she looked down at the place where her teammate had been sitting. "Is that glass? What is going on in here?!"

Qrow had become irritated that his niece was no longer acknowledging him, and now, he was being chastised by a teenager. "I was filling her in on what she missed. You kind of showed up at a bad time."

"The entire world is _kind of_ a bad time. Whatever this is, it can't possibly be helping," she shot back.

Qrow had become visibly upset by this point, and began to raise his voice. "Look! I didn't tell her to get out of bed, she did that part herself. I tried to help, and I got clocked in the jaw. What do you want from me? Jeez! You're more like your sister than I gave you credit for."

"That's funny, because Yang let me help her up… so what'd you do to make her so upset?"

"That's enough!" The words tore through the air like a dull knife. Her voice was trembling, eyes were now red from the crying and excessive rubbing, but they had returned to their natural lilac color. The two verbal combatants immediately turned their attention back to Yang, who did her best to settle herself down. "I'm glad you're okay through all of this," she said as she placed her good arm on Weiss's lap. "I... just need you to tell me that Blake is okay..."

Qrow took the hint that he was not wanted, and retreated to his chair on the other side of the room, still fuming from his interaction with Weiss.

Weiss was not grateful, even in the least, that once again she would have to be the bearer of bad news. In her mind, she lamented the misery that she had passed along to her friends. _First Jaune, now this?_

Realizing that ever passing moment was eating away at Yang, she decided that she had to say something, so she started slowly, "Blake… visited you here... last night. It was... not too long after sundown. I must have dozed off, because I didn't see her come in." Weiss had to stop. Her heart was pounding, and she had no idea how she could tell the next part of the story, and even less of an idea how Yang would handle it. The anxiety was unmistakable in her muted tone and shaky composure.

Yang pleaded desperately, "Weiss…?"

"Sun… was the last one to see her. I talked to him this morning. When she was here, Blake… said her goodbyes. To all of us but... she's gone…" Weiss paused to gauge her friend's reaction before continuing, but there was no reaction. There was nothing. "Yang, she left us because she loves us too much to put us in danger. That psychopath… Adam… he's trying to get revenge on Blake. What he did to you… Blake couldn't live with the thought of anything like that happening to anyone else." Still, Yang showed no response.

Within the confines of the fortress that had formerly been known as Yang, everything had stopped. The last words that had made it through before the drawbridge had been raised were ' _she's gone.'_ It wasn't fair. A few days ago, the worst thing that had happened to her was being called fat. Then a disqualification, followed shortly thereafter by a dismemberment. Pyrrha… the best fighter, hands down, that Beacon could boast was killed, fighting for her friends. Then Ruby. Ozpin, the voice of reassurance and stability… gone. And now Blake was on the run. Her closest friend, her first partner from their initiation in the Emerald Forest. It was all too much to handle.

Weiss had been trying to offer solace in the background, to little effect. In her current state of shock, Yang was completely disconnected from the world around her. The news of Blake's departure took Qrow by surprise as well. His anger diminished greatly once he began to understand what, exactly, he had said to upset his niece so quickly. He stood up from his chair, and casually made his way to the bedside, next to where Weiss was sitting.

Reaching past Weiss, who was still greatly irritated by his presence, he gently rested Yang back onto her pillow. After making his way around the bed, he picked the sheets up off of the floor and covered her up to her chest. Qrow thought for a moment, carefully selecting the words he considered appropriate to defuse the emotional time bomb that was Weiss. They came from a dark place, where he wouldn't normally go around his immediate family, except that neither one of them was likely going to absorb any of it.

"I know what this feels like, Weiss. Right now, you probably hate me. You have every reason to. From your perspective, I'm some apathetic drunk who watched his own blood crawl around on the floor. Truth is, you're right." She looked up at him with angry eyes, but allowed him to continue without interruption. "I've been doing this for a long time. Long enough to know that this kind of thing can ruin a person. I've watched it happen. Twice. The real tragedy of it is... it was the same person. He lost two loves. Two teammates. Two mothers. But you know what? He came back. And that's why I know Yang will come back. Grieving is a natural process. People move through it at their own pace, and to interfere with it… well… that's how you end up like me."

Weiss was surprised to discover that Qrow had apparently recovered his heart from the black hole that must have absorbed it earlier in the day. Over the last forty-eight hours, he had been the wise, supportive huntsman who she needed to help her survive. But in this time of mourning, he had become a cold, callous man who had withdrawn into some sort of mental shell.

"I've seen so much death over the years that it barely even affects me any more. I've lost family, friends, teammates, people I only knew for a few minutes, and everything in between. I would never wish that on anyone."

Weiss didn't know how to form a proper response to the sudden outpouring of honesty. This was clearly a man with a deep seeded emotional disconnect, but also a man who was well versed in how to deal with loss. They were just kids, not even eighteen years old. "What makes you so sure Yang is going to get over this?"

Qrow smiled, "Because the person who lost two loves? That's her dad. I've known Taiyang for a long time. He's kind of a softie, but that just means he can bounce back that much better." Weiss knew very few details about her teammates' parents, but learning that recovery from heartbreak apparently ran in the family was… somehow reassuring. "I wish I could promise you that everything's going to be fine, but I can't. All I can tell you is the same thing I told Ruby and Yang. You kids are gonna go far, but you have to keep learning, and you can never stop moving forward."

She just shook her head as she stood up, amazed that despite having a heart of stone, Qrow always had the right advice to give. "You should be more careful. You're coming awful close to being a nice guy again."

"Yeah, yeah… Don't get too used to it. It's mostly just so your sister doesn't attack me again next time I see her. Oh, and here's some more 'nice guy' advice. Don't worry about these two. I'll keep an eye on 'em. You should go find something to do to get your mind off of all this. Maybe go see if you can help clear out some of the Grimm that pushed into Vale this morning."

As Weiss walked past Qrow she stopped. "Now that you mention it, I do have an errand to run. But I swear, if I come back here and find everyone laying on the ground, you'll join them."

"No promises." He quipped.

She simply sighed, unsure how anyone could be so nonchalant, given the circumstances. Turning to Yang, who was now staring blankly past Ruby and out the window, Weiss offered the best consolation she had. "Don't worry about me, Yang. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

She stepped through the entryway, pulling the door closed behind her. Addressing the somewhat thinned crowd that had remained in the hall even after the extended wait, she indicated that Yang wasn't in a condition to accept visitors right now. She promised to keep as many people updated as she could on her teammates' conditions, and then set off towards the lobby. Finally free from the burden of being a caretaker, Weiss set about the business she had meant to attend to many hours before.

As she neared the street-side exit to the building, Weiss felt a vibration in her pocket. Instinctively, she removed her scroll from it, and opened it to see who was calling. It read, 'Father'. _Wait... what? That's impossible_ , she thought as she closed her scroll again. _The CCTS has been down for days_.

She stepped out of the building, and noticed that there was now another, different vibration, at the same time as a great shadow was cast over her. A titanic luxury transport ship was passing through the skies nearby. On the side of it was the emblem that she knew all too well, paired with the words Schnee Dust Company.


	18. Gratitude

Chapter 18: Gratitude

 _This can't be real._ _Why is this happening? I'm not ready. My hair is a mess. Nobody's around to get my back. What's he going to say to me? What am I going to say to him? He cut me off. Is he upset with me? Does he even know I'm here? Maybe I could hide. No, someone would tell him where I am. Should I just face him? Is he even here? Maybe he sent a delegate. Then I could refuse. I made a promise, after all. I won't break it… I… can't break it._

Weiss couldn't control the avalanche of questions and thoughts that blew through her mind like a December wind. She found herself shaking from the impending confrontation, and the cold shadow that had been cast on her by the frame of the enormous ship. Even though it bore her name, the Schnee Dust Company was not her. It could never be her. She was, by definition, a Schnee. But her reputation now preceded her affiliation with her father's company.

In Atlas, she was an heiress. In Vale, she was a huntress. Given the choice, Weiss knew there was no contest. The contempt she held for the life she used to have was indefatigable. Growing up in the shadow of something larger and more important than anything else in the world meant dealing with a lot of darkness. The presence of this great shadow meant that her past had caught up with her. Her… father had caught up with her.

It dawned on Weiss in this time of reflection that she had been quite the hypocrite. She hated Blake for running from her past, for keeping secrets and telling half lies. But was she any better? She knew the answer was no. Blake always said that she left her past behind her, and she did. But when it finally caught up to her, the ruin left in the wake of the storm was immeasurable. Hearts were shattered. Lives irreparably damaged. In that moment, she thought of Yang.

And now here she was. Weiss Schnee, the heiress once again. She had run from her past, choosing instead to fight for the people she loved, not simply tolerate the ones she dreaded. But what would happen now? Her past lay right in front of her, ready to stake its claim on her, rightfully or otherwise. She only knew one thing for sure. There was no way that she was leaving.

Instead of standing in awe of her father's great aircraft, Weiss continued on her way down the street… just like she'd planned. She would look back from time to time as she covered the two blocks on her way to the tiny pawn shop. It was right on the edge of the safe zone, and the sounds of battle could be heard only a few blocks away. She passed this shop a dozen times over the last few months of living in the Kingdom of Vale, but had never gone in.

She knocked on the wooden door, and waited until a voice came from inside. "Come on in!" Weiss twisted the handle, which didn't seem to do anything, and pushed on the door. She expected it to swing open, but instead, it fell over in front of her, making a loud thud as it hit the ground. Weiss was startled by the dysfunction of it all. The clerk standing at the counter just let out a hearty laugh, "Sorry 'bout that young lady! Ursa broke my door. I broke its leg. Didn't get a chance to fix it yet. The door, I mean. You can come on in, I'll uh, close that for ya."

Weiss was caught off guard by the hospitality of the man at the counter. The world was ending around them, but he seemed to be having the time of his life. "Are you… opened for business?"

"Yes ma'am. I welcome Humans, Faunus and Grimm. I only kill the Grimm. You're not a Grimm are ya?" Weiss was not expecting someone so lively. She'd forgotten what it was like to have a casual conversation with someone. She remained contemplative for a few seconds until the clerk pulled out what would have passed for a guitar, except for the large caliber barrel protruding from the end of the neck.

Weiss stepped back, "Human! Definitely human." The man lowered his weapon back below the counter.

"Sorry. You uh... didn't say no. Never can be too careful." He laughed again. Weiss enjoyed the man's jovial attitude, and smiled politely back at him. The man was probably in his mid forties, and had a head full of black hair, with a bit of grey mixed in. It was thinning on the top, but not enough to cause concern. He had a dark complexion, and was built well, maybe a bit above average height for a man. Weiss estimated he was right around six feet tall. He was dressed in khaki pants and a white polo shirt tucked in behind a black leather belt. "So then, Miss… I'm sorry, I like to get to know my customers."

Weiss hesitated for a moment, knowing fully how this part of the conversation usually went for her. "Schnee. My name is Weiss. It's nice to meet you."

The man stood in silence for a moment, maintaining a completely straight face. He broke the silence long enough to say, "I'll be right back," and ran off into the back room. His voice echoed from behind the door, "Feel free to look around!"

 _He's either going to kidnap me or rob me. I just know it,_ Weiss thought. Before she could be abducted, she decided to have a look around. The store kept most of the more valuable items behind the glass casing that formed the counter near the cash register. Since what she had come for would be somewhat valuable, that's where she looked. There were knives, necklaces, jewels, weapons and even a small assortment of dust crystals that had been marked up exorbitantly.

She couldn't locate what she was looking for, so Weiss turned to the opposite wall in the store to check with the more common items. As she searched, the door behind the counter creaked, and the man's footsteps could be heard walking through it. "Sorry 'bout the wait, Ms. Schnee." She turned around to see the same man, now wearing a dress shirt with a bow tie, his hair neatly combed and styled. "Didn't recognize you at first. Just wanted to make myself presentable for someone of your... ilk."

She was blown away by the hospitality of this man, yet unsure how to respond. After all, she was not really comfortable with this level of attention. "I'm flattered by your warm welcome, sir. Really, it wasn't necessary though."

"Nonsense! What can I help ya with today?"

Weiss knew her request would be an odd one, considering her age. "I'm looking for a flask. A nice one." The clerk looked at her awkwardly for a moment. "It's for a friend." The awkward looks persisted. "Really." Her face became red as she realized how ridiculous she must sound to a grown man who had probably used the same lines once or twice in his years.

"No judgement here, we were all young once," he replied. "I have a few in a drawer under the counter. I don't leave 'em on display because honestly, nobody buys these things." He knelt down, pulled open the drawer, and retrieved a small box, before lifting it up to the counter. "There ya go. You can look through those if you want."

She opened the box, and immediately saw the most perfect flask for her purposes. It was crafted from silver, and had the Schnee Dust Company emblem engraved into it. Weiss held it in her hand for a moment before asking, "Where did you even get this? I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before…"

"It's probably been… years. I used to get all kinds of SDC stuff from a couple of my long-time Faunus business partners. Said they were in some kinda partnership with your dad. Haven't seen 'em in a while though."

Weiss knew that it had probably come from a cargo train that had been hijacked by the White Fang, or at least that was what her instincts told her. The man probably didn't mean any harm by it. He just didn't know that his 'business partners' had taken certain liberties to acquire their goods. It didn't matter, though. This was a gift. "How much do you want for it?"

The man knew he could probably get away with inflating the price, but he had no interest in trying to swindle his new customer. "Tell ya what. If you have any dust on you, we can probably negotiate ourselves a deal. I've been trying to get back into the dust business for a long time."

Weiss reached into her pack to retrieve some spare dust canisters that were normally reserved for her weapon. She had more back in her room, so it didn't bother her to part with them. She laid a half dozen of them on the counter. Considering the ridiculous price of dust these days, she figured that would be enough.

The clerk's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "Ms. Schnee, this is easily worth double the price of this flask. I can't take all this in good faith."

She smiled, "Consider it my thanks for being so hospitable. You run a good business here, Mister… I don't believe I caught your name either."

"Name's Flynt Coal. Senior. Pleasure to meet you."

Weiss just stared blankly at the man, uttering only one word, "What."

The hearty laugh returned. "I think you know my son, Flynt Jr. I used to run a dust shop in Atlas. Your dad's company pretty much squashed us, so I sold out to him. That money was enough to move to Vale, where I opened this pawn shop. My son stayed in Atlas, where he grew up and went to school. But I've been fortunate to see him a lot recently, what with the Vytal Festival and all."

The thought that good things did, actually, still happen in the world made Weiss smile. She exchanged her dust canisters for the flask, and bid her new friend farewell, "Thank you again Mr. Coal. I'm sure I'll visit again sometime."

"The pleasure's all mine, Ms. Schnee. Oh, and if you see my son around, tell him to stop down here and see his old man sometime. I'm gettin' too old to be lifting broken wooden doors all day." She smiled and acknowledged his request.

As Weiss stepped out into the street, she turned back to look at the name of the shop. The sign simply read "Coal's". _Don't know how I missed that one,_ she thought. The warm exchange she'd had with Mr. Coal left her in a pleasant mood as she started the walk back to the hospital.

The sun was beginning to set on the second day of their residence in Vale. Weiss considered how lucky they were that the safe zone had been established, maintained and even expanded somewhat in that time. She kept thinking about how things would continue to get better. For the first time in probably a week, she was genuinely happy.

Then, she walked up to the front door of the hospital, where the her cordial demeanor was blown away by the icy cold reality of such a gaudy ship, which was still hovering above the city. _Oh, right. There's that._ Her internal monologue bemoaned the possibility that at any moment, her nightmare could compound itself by the appearance of her father.

She quickly made her way up to Room 226, and knocked gently on the door. A woman's voice answered, "Come in!" Weiss pushed the door open, and saw that a nurse was tending to Yang's scratches and cuts on her legs. Her teammate didn't seem to be any better off mentally than she had been earlier in the day, but at least she wasn't rolling on the floor in agony like the last time.

Qrow was there too. He had a bowl in one hand, and a spoon in the other. When he looked up to acknowledge Weiss, the outline of chocolate around his lips became apparent. He immediately went on the defensive, "She wasn't gonna eat it… and I couldn't let it go to waste. Hey, did you know Ren is like, a really good cook? Made this from scratch."

"And lake slime, probably," Weiss joked. "I can't believe you ate Yang's pudding." Then she thought about what she was saying. "Oh wait, you're an insufferable ogre. I can totally believe it." Qrow just shrugged. Whatever it was that he was spooning into his mouth, it was delicious.

"So, what'd you do with yourself in the last couple hours?" Qrow asked, with a mouthful of pudding.

"Well, I thought a lot about everything I've… we've gone through in the last few days. Everything you did to help me, all of the times that you knew exactly what to say to make me feel like everything was alright... I realized that I never properly thanked you for it. And… in light of certain events that I may or may not have been paying attention to, I bought you a small token of my gratitude." She reached into her pack, and pulled out the silver flask.

Qrow couldn't help but stare at the gift. Without even looking, he set the bowl down on the table, having totally forgotten that the spoon was still in his mouth. He stood up, and walked toward Weiss, speechless. _A minor miracle,_ she thought. He opened his mouth to speak, and the spoon fell to the floor, much to the chagrin of the nurse tending to Yang. "Weiss, I… you didn't have to-"

"Please," she interjected with a wry smile. "You're no good to anyone sober."

"I could kiss you," Qrow said, creating an awkward uncertainty in the mind of his young friend.

"Please don't," was the response he got from Weiss.

The huntsman settled for a more casual show of thanks. The two closed in to mutually express their appreciation for each other in the form of a harmless hug.

As the embrace began, a voice came from behind Weiss, just outside the room, "And what, may I ask, is this all about, Qrow?" He was already oriented in that direction, so it was easy for him to simply look up. He stood, embracing one Schnee, and looked into the bewildered eyes of another.

"Damn it," he muttered.


	19. Ice Bath

Chapter 19: Ice Bath

Qrow was quick to break the embrace he had been sharing with Weiss. There was no foul play intended, it was just a show of thanks for his new flask. Winter's appearance had made the entire situation somewhat awkward. Not that her presence was much of a surprise, but Qrow was still caught off guard by it. He had heard, and later seen, the titanic Schnee Dust Company luxury liner as it entered into Vale's airspace. To him, it looked more like one of Ironwood's ships, only fancier.

Weiss's reaction to the sound of such a familiar voice coming from behind her was less dramatic, and more relieving. She had considered the presence of her father to be a nuisance and a threat. It would be a poor decision to openly disrespect him, but she assumed that she would have no problem standing up to him. The fact that Winter's voice came from the hallway and not her father's created a different sort of problem. Weiss loved her sister, and respected her greatly. But as she stood presently, she had not showered, or even bothered to fix her hair in days. It was not held up in any form or fashion, and her bangs had become ruffled, hanging down past her eyebrows.

As Weiss spun around to face her sister, Qrow noticed that some of the chocolate pudding that decorated his face had gotten into her hair. He began to consider the ways that the blemish would be interpreted. _Huh. Maybe she'll think it's dirt. Nobody's had a lot of time to clean up around here and -_

Winter's no nonsense demeanor interrupted his thought process. "How is it possible that you've managed to make yourself appear even more homeless than you did last week?"

He thought for a moment. "Well, I was staying at Beacon the last time you saw me. Since then, the Grimm have more or less evicted me. So… I mean technically, I am more homeless than I was last week." Winter growled at the inhumane levels of snark that seemed to emanate from Qrow at all times. She tried to form a quick-witted response, but before her thoughts could be organized into a rebuttal, Qrow did his best to rationalize the pudding crisis. "This isn't what it probably looks like, just so you know."

Weiss turned her head halfway around, forming a puzzled expression on her face. "Wait… what?" She thought for a few moments about the implications of the hug she had shared. "Are you saying she thought… that we were… Oh nonononono." She turned back to her sister. "Winter, it's not what it looks-"

"You have chocolate pudding in your hair, sister," Winter said, flatly. "Please, go make yourself presentable."

The look that Weiss gave to Qrow would have killed a lesser man. But, in an attempt to avoid creating a scene in the presence of her sister, she gritted her teeth and stormed across the hall to the room that she had occupied in the absence of Blake.

The traffic in the hallway was typically light, but the occasional passerby was enough to cause concern for Winter. She waited until after her sister had closed the door to her room to speak again. "I think it would be best if we find a more… secure… area before any sensitive information is exchanged."

Qrow nodded in agreement. "Well then. Come on in." He began to turn back towards the interior of the room he had previously occupied, but he was stopped before completing his change of direction.

"Qrow. There are two young girls and a hospital worker in the room. You may recall that I did say 'sensitive information' in my previous statement." The nurse who had all but finished tending to Yang, having heard the comment, stood up and began to head toward the exit before Qrow stopped her.

"You don't have to leave if you aren't finished. Whatever she has to say, I think we've all earned the right to hear it." The nurse was clearly torn about the choice she had been presented. After a brief moment of consideration, she made the decision to finish taking care of Yang before moving on to her next job.

The direct contradiction to Winter's presumed authority made her furious. She moved to within a few inches of Qrow, lowering her tone to a snarl. "Who do you think you are, that you get to decide who is, and who is not privy to information directly concerning the Military of Atlas?"

His response was in feigned terror. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for not respecting the sanctity of such a pure, unblemished fighting force." Qrow lifted the veil of insincerity before continuing, "Where do you think you are? I'm not sure how things are going in Atlas these days, but in Vale, everybody's pretty much on the same page. We've all been through one circle of hell or another over the last few days. What could you possibly think is happening here that's such a well kept secret?"

In his mind, he pleaded to some greater power that the existence of the four maidens had not become common knowledge among the ranks of the Atlesian Military. Qrow was not interested in speaking of the legends that Oz had told him over the years, especially not in front of his two young nieces and a member of the hospital staff.

Fortunately for him, it looked as if that secret would remain safe for now, as Winter simply responded, "I. Don't. Know. But I am here on behalf of the Ruling Council of Atlas to find out. The last images we saw of Vale before the CCTS failed were of Atlesian units attacking the city, Beacon, civilians and students. Unsure of how such action would be possible or necessary, the council has advised the formation of a special inquisitorial task force. As part of my investigation, I will need to speak to General Ironwood as soon as possible. I have an urgent message that requires his immediate attention."

"That all seems pretty serious. You know, you sound really official when you use big words like that." Qrow knew that continually joking with Winter would get him nowhere. She clearly had an agenda, and he had no idea what it was. "But why tell me all of this? Isn't your usual answer for everything, 'classified'?"

She exhaled loudly, for effect. "My superiors back in Atlas recognize your… perceived value to any kind of intelligence gathering mission. And as much as it pains me to admit it, you are one of the best huntsmen that we have left. Also, considering that you've spent the majority of the last week in Vale, I think it is fair to assume that you have your nose in more than just my sister's hair. As such, I have been granted the authority to offer you a place on my team, should you be interested."

Qrow grimaced, likely at the thought of collaborating with, as he considered them, a bunch of sellouts. "Your witch hunt is pointless. I can tell you just about everything you want to know, and that sounds a lot better than selling my soul to Atlas. Besides, you said you were looking for Ironwood. I say we find him, and we'll talk all of this out. Two birds, one stone."

To Winter, this was so easy that it almost seemed like a trap. "Fine, but we're doing this my way," she demanded. Qrow agreed to some extent, but instead of leading the way to General Ironwood's makeshift headquarters, he turned back into the room and picked up his bowl of pudding, much to the dismay of Winter. "Could you not?"

"You're just mad that I'm not gonna share."

* * *

Weiss spent her time in the washroom thinking about what her family's presence in Vale could mean for her. _If this is anything like last time, then Winter is probably just here to oversee the deployment of reinforcements. She can't actually be mad at me, can she? Maybe once I explain what we've been through, she could understand. Besides, it's not like she told me she was coming. How can I be expected to keep myself 'presentable' at all times in the middle of a war? This is literally the first shower I've taken in days._

 _And what about father? He has to be here, right? There's no way he would just lend his ship out for something that he had no stake in. The way Winter explained it, he must have been upset with the way I left. For Beacon, I mean. It's not what he wanted for me._ She shook her head, _He never cared enough to actually have a conversation about it. Why should I have to explain anything to him?_

A barely audible knock at the door broke her concentration, and sent her into a panic. Regardless of who was outside her room, she was wrapped in only a bath towel. It subsequently occurred to her that the only clothes she had were the ones she had just changed out of before stepping into the shower. _Great. I wonder if a bath towel counts as 'presentable'. I guess I'll find out._

She peered through the eyehole in her door, but didn't see anyone in the hallway. When she turned the handle on the door to peer outside, it flew open, and a completely unprepared Jaune fell to the floor. Apparently, he had been leaning on the door, waiting for a response. Weiss quickly retreated several steps back, as a short scream escaped her mouth at the surprise of it all.

Before he even looked up to take in the sight of his friend in a bath towel, Jaune began to apologize, "Sorry, Weiss. I was trying to listen for sounds to see if you were in there, then the door ju-" He lifted his head, and saw the bewildered heiress slowly backing into the washroom, wrapped in a towel. "Oh Crap! Weiss! I- Sorry, I didn't know!" He scrambled back into the hall, still on his hands and knees, pulling the door closed behind him. For a moment, he collected himself, then stood back up. This time, he chose the wall as a more solid surface to lean on while he waited for Weiss to sort herself out.

With the door closed again, Weiss began to frantically search the room for something to wear. Her old clothes were dirty and worn, but they would suffice if they were her only option. She knew that her search was hopeless. When they left their dormitory at Beacon for the last time, none of her team could have known to pack a change of clothes. It was this train of thought that caused her to stop in her tracks at the sight of a perfectly folded and arranged set of clean clothes for her to wear, laid out neatly on her bed.

She reached out to them cautiously, almost as if she expected a giant mouse trap to snap closed on her. When she wasn't crushed under the force of a giant, spring loaded death trap, Weiss quickly put on her clothes. She found that they were identical to the usual outfit that she wore around Beacon. The only difference was the folded piece of paper that was tucked into her sleeve. It was typed on an official Schnee Dust Company letterhead, and simply read, "We need to talk." Her father had signed his name at the bottom.

 _So, he knows I'm here. He knows where I'm staying. He seems to know about my distinct lack of wardrobes. And he made one of his secretaries type out four words on a page. On the bright side, he does seem to actually want to talk to me, which is… new...for him._ The resentment inside of her grew at the thought of her father being so disconnected emotionally that he had sent what was effectively a memo to her room, informing her that she was being summoned to his presence.

By this time, Weiss had gotten herself fully dressed. All that was left to do was putting on her boots and organizing her hair into something that didn't resemble a wet dog, which could wait for at least a little while. She made her way back to the door, this time giving fair warning to anyone leaning on it, "I'm opening the door now."

Jaune was just to the left of the door as it swung open, still leaning against the wall, still standing. He did not immediately turn his attention to activity happening to his right. He did acknowledge it, though. "Is it safe for me to look?"

"Yeah, I'm decent now, you can come in if you want to," she said as she retreated back into her room. The sight of Jaune following her into into the room was alarming, mostly because she realized how tall he was. Without her heels to effectively boost her up, Jaune seemed to tower over Weiss even more than usual. The difference in their height was more than an entire foot now.

Jaune gently closed the door behind him, before taking a seat on the extra chair that was in each of the hospital rooms. At the same time, Weiss reached for the hairbrush that had also been so conveniently left on her bed, along with the proper pins and ties necessary to form her hair into her traditional ponytail. "He really thought of everything. Or someone did, anyway," she said quietly to herself.

Jaune wasn't sure if he was being addressed, "Who did?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was kind of… talking to myself. What I mean is, I'm still trying to figure out my clothes. I didn't get a chance to pack before I left Beacon, but I think my father sent me an extra set."

"Yeah, I should probably be the one who's sorry here. I mean, I almost killed you with the door, and then there's the whole… bath towel thing. Y-know, I honestly thought you'd be more upset by all of this." Jaune's thoughts shifted to her comments about her father. "Your dad is… here?"

She lowered her eyes, almost as if to communicate sadness to him, "It would seem so, yes. I know that my sister is here. I've already spoken with her, but I found this note..." Weiss removed the memo from the nightstand, and handed it to Jaune. "Looks like he's made enough time in his busy schedule to squeeze me in."

"Is this a bad time, then? I can come back later if you want… Really, it's no big deal." The tone of his voice made Jaune sound completely defeated. She couldn't blame him, though. He had been a ghost for the better part of a day and a half since their last meeting in the hallway, not long after her return from Beacon.

"No, Jaune. Stay. I want you to." She lifted her head and gave him a little smile. "I haven't spoken to my father in months, and I'm in no hurry to change that. You're here now, so what's on your mind?"

"Well… it's just… I've had some time to think now. I did my best to clear my head of all of the dreams… the nightmares that have been haunting me. I think I'm good now. But I still don't really feel like I understand all the details of what happened back at the school. Like I've seen a lot of stuff that still doesn't make any sense to me." Jaune trailed off toward the end of his sentence, trying to gauge if Weiss was following his line of thought at all.

"Jaune, nothing I've seen in the last three days makes any sense to me. We're supposed to be kids learning how to be adults… how to be professionals. The things I've done over the past few days have made me feel more like a headmaster. We've both had to deal with heartbreak and tragedy. I was down in that nightmare, vault thing when I found Ozpin's cane. I saw Blake leave the city. I watched Yang crumble emotionally right in front of me. Ruby is still not awake, and I don't know what the next hour has in store for me."

Jaune stared intently at Weiss. For a moment, he remained silent. Some of the things she had said were news to him, but the part about Professor Ozpin was especially interesting. "You were in the vault? Wasn't Ozpin there?"

"No, I got chased down there not more than a few minutes after you called me, right after Ruby went up the tower. I was alone for a little while, so I looked around. That's when I found Ozpin's cane. And I saw that girl in the pod." Weiss connected some dots in her mind, "Wait, you went to the vault too?"

He nodded his head. "I… The three of us went down there. Ozpin, Pyrrha and myself. I didn't have time to ask anyone what all of it meant, but Pyrrha got into the empty pod that was down there. Then Ozpin started some kind of machine, and Pyrrha started screaming. I turned around to see what was wrong, and an arrow flew past my head. It hit this other girl… and then there was this amber colored light that left her body and went to the woman who shot the arrow. All of the sudden she could fly, and she used this… fire… or something… to shrug off my attack, then Pyrrha's. Ozpin told us to get out of there, to get help, but we barely made it out of the building before that woman flew to the top of the tower."

Weiss took a seat on her bed, clearly unsure how to process what she was hearing. "None of that makes any sense to me… I mean, I heard everything you told me, but the lights and the fire? It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel… But, you were in the city when you called me, weren't you?"

Jaune didn't even acknowledge the question for a few moments, as if he had to open a box that was locked away in his mind. "I… took out my scroll to try to call for help. I was going to call Glynda, but I sidetracked myself asking Pyrrha about what in the world I had just witnessed. She hesitated, and just kept looking back at the tower. It only took me a few seconds to figure out why. That was the moment. Right there, she made her choice about her destiny. She knew what she had to do. I tried to reason with her…"

"Jaune, she made that decision for herself. You can't beat yourself up over this again." Weiss made her best attempt to insulate Jaune from another traumatic recollection of that day's events.

"She… made that decision... for me. It's like I said. I was trying desperately to reason with her, to talk her out of going up there alone. I was prepared to go with her, or drag her away. I was ready for anything. Except for a kiss."

Weiss' eyes widened with this revelation. She began to consider, for the first time, how strong Jaune had been through all of this. She never realized that he had been _that_ close to Pyrrha. "I- I had no idea…"

Jaune gave a defeated laugh. "Wanna know the real shame of it? Neither did I. I spent a lot of time thinking about it since yesterday morning. I talked a lot with Ren and Nora too. The truth of it is, I was just too worried about myself to ever think about her as anything more than a friend. She did all of the right things, and made all of the right moves. Eventually, I started to get it. But it only really clicked in my mind a few hours before her fight at the tournament."

"Are... you sure you want to be talking about this?" Weiss asked cautiously. "I don't want to make this uncomfortable for you."

"She saved me, Weiss. She may have saved you too. But that doesn't mean I'm going to mourn her. That's not what she would have wanted. I am going to make it my purpose in life to honor Pyrrha's memory in everything that I do. And that starts now. The reason I came over here was to find out if you know where Crow is. He told me to come find him when I was ready. With everything you told me about the vault underneath the school, and Ozpin being gone… I have a lot of questions for him. I know it's only been a little while, but I'm more ready, more focused now than I've ever been." Jaune rose defiantly from his chair, and offered his hand in assistance to Weiss.

She accepted, and the two of them walked toward the exit to the room, stopping only briefly for Weiss to put on her boots. "If they're not across the hall, then they probably went to the debriefing room. That's where General Ironwood stays, and if I know my sister, that's where she'll want to go."

As they closed the door behind them, Jaune's only words were "It's time to get some answers."


	20. Changing the Guard

Chapter 20: Changing the Guard

As they neared the briefing room, Qrow and Winter were the literal antithesis of one another. Qrow looked like a toddler who had just finished playing with his dinner. Chocolate was still crusted on his lips and fingers. The spoon that he had dropped on the floor previously was of no use to him, since it was still on the floor, upstairs. His strides were short, and his posture was that of an old man. He staggered down the hall with a hunch. Along their walk, he had resorted to using his fingers to scoop the rest of the pudding out of the bowl.

The regimented march that she maintained along the way to their destination drew a stark contrast to Qrow. Because of this, Winter made a point to follow him at an extreme distance. Her pristine military uniform would not be tarnished by the untidy habits of her temporary partner. She saw him stop several feet down the hall in front of her. He waited for her to get close before breaking the silence that they had shared during the brief journey. "This is the place. I'm gonna be honest, I don't know if Glynda's in there or not. But even I know that if she is, she'll throw me right back out if I walk in looking like this. So I'm gonna use the little boy's room. Be right back."

As he strolled down the hall and into the public restroom, Winter couldn't help but wonder why he held such strong prejudices against everything Atlas. He could be such a powerful ally if he would just allow himself to be. She just shook her head and looked at the door that would take her to the General. In doing so, she was reminded of the primary reason she had come here.

The letter was tucked away neatly within the interior left pocket of her overcoat. She reached two fingers into the pocket, and pulled out the envelope, which was sealed and bore the official emblem of Atlas. She knew the contents. It was part of her mission to be briefed on all details and contingencies that could arise based on the contents of the letter. She stood silently, paper in hand, carefully inspecting its perfectly squared corners.

As time passed, Winter noticed that her normally steady hands had developed a barely noticeable tremor. So, she folded them behind her back and tried to reason with herself. _Come on Winter. They gave you this mission because they knew you could do it. And you can do it. You will do it. You… have to do it._ Qrow's hand resting on her shoulder broke her out of the trance she was in, noticeably startling her and consequently angering her. "Alright, let's go," he said.

"I do hope you've washed your hands before placing them upon me," she said in the least amused tone she could muster.

"I used the finest holy water, just for you, Ice Queen. What's got you so jumpy?" Qrow asked as he knocked lightly on the door.

Despite his choice to use to use the 'Ice Queen' moniker, Winter smiled politely, saying only, "Classified." Qrow allowed a reasonable time to pass before knocking again. There had been no noticeable response after the first attempt.

This time, a groggy voice bellowed from inside, "I'm coming, I'm coming..." Moments later, the door cracked open, and General Ironwood appeared inside. He was only wearing his black undershirt, and some hastily donned military trousers. His hair was very much unkempt, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Those tired eyes initially identified Qrow, "I wasn't expecting you, Qrow. I tried to get a little sleep. Is this important or-" His gaze shifted to Winter, who was standing behind and to the right of Qrow. "Winter? When did you… never mind. Come in, please." He opened the door fully, revealing that he had apparently dragged a temporary cot into the room.

"I didn't think you slept, James," Qrow began, "I figured you just plugged in or something." He stepped into the room and began to explain his visit. "I really don't have much business here, but Winter…" He turned to find her still standing in place in the hall, staring blankly into the room. Looking back towards Ironwood, he continued. "She's been doing that recently. I have no idea why. Anyway-"

General Ironwood stopped him, "Winter, is everything alright?"

She snapped to attention, almost as if she had been sleeping on her feet. "I'm sorry sir, it must be the travel to and from Atlas catching up to me. I apologize." She walked into the room as elegantly as her legs would allow. The men in the room could tell something was wrong. She lacked her signature focus and determination, almost as if she were stalling for something. Qrow closed the door behind her.

"Where'd Glynda run off to?" Qrow asked.

"She went with some of the teams that volunteered to patrol the perimeter. Some of them are pretty raw, or otherwise shorthanded due to injuries.' Ironwood paused briefly, "So, it's just the three of us."

An awkward silence briefly filled the room. Qrow decided that in the interest of not wasting anyone's time, he would begin the conversation. "So, I already talked with Winter about why, exactly, she's here. I guess some of the big wigs in Atlas want an explanation for what's going on in Vale. What they saw before the CCTS went offline apparently wasn't pretty. I told her I could explain most of that, but she insisted on delivering some kind of-"

"Qrow! I do believe that we agreed to do this, my way," Winter said with a scolding voice.

He was confused by the outburst. "So uh... were you using telepathy? Because your way seems to be really, really quiet."

"Stow it, Qrow," she commanded. "I've got everything under control." Ironwood and Qrow simply looked at one another. They were both baffled by the volatility of the otherwise reasonably composed Winter.

"Winter, I don't think such an outburst is helpful right now." General Ironwood walked over to her, and ushered her into one of the seats at the table. "If something is wrong, you can speak freely about it here. Everything that is said in this room is said in strict confidence." Even Qrow acknowledged this with a simple nod. The general then found himself a seat, and Qrow followed suit.

Winter had become uncomfortable in her full specialist attire. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead as she tried to force her mind to process her thoughts more slowly. After several deep breaths, she stood back up, and placed the envelope on the table, and slid it over to General Ironwood. His eyes, and Qrow's, followed the paper as it travelled across the wooden surface.

Ironwood hesitated a moment before lifting the letter off of the table. He looked up at Winter, who now stood at attention across the table from him. His attention turned back to the envelope, which he carefully broke open with his more precise, human hand. He removed the letter from its paper shroud, and unfolded it. The suspense was killing Qrow, whose eyes darted back and forth between the two Atlas personnel in the room.

As the general read the letter, his voice alternated between a faint whisper and nothing, and then became audible again. "General James Ironwood, You are hereby summoned to appear before the Atlas Military High Council..." his voice faded out, but his eyes were still following the text on the paper from left to right and then back again. "... stand trial by Court Martial?" He looked up at Winter, aghast at what he was reading. She remained at attention, but had become pale, with increased perspiration.

After a few arduous minutes of silence, Ironwood came to his list of charges. "Dereliction of Duty and Order Violations!?" The general had now begun to sweat, himself. His eyes finally reached the bottom of the page, where he saw the signatures of each of the members of the ruling council. "Winter? What is this? These charges are ridiculous!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I was sent here to accomplish two missions. The first was to deliver your subpoena, and see to your cooperation. And the second, is-"

"To kill all of the witnesses, right?" Qrow shouted. "You know, I used to think it was James who was the jackass pulling your strings. Looks like I was wrong. Whoever you're working for, there's some things they need to know before you march in here and start arresting people." He took a breath, prepared to continue, but he wasn't allowed.

"Your input is irrelevant, Qrow. We're done here. General, if you'll come with me, I assure you that this will go much more smoo-"

"You're the only one that's gonna be done here if you cut me off one more time… What happened to your special inquisition? This was supposed to be an exchange of information!" Qrow's face was red, and he was prepared to debate the insanity of this new accusation to the death. Ironwood was not his closest friend, but he was one of the few members of Ozpin's inner circle. Watching him get shipped off to Atlas would be a serious blow to their efforts to fight the war that had been hidden so cleverly underneath the veil of confusion.

"Qrow…" Ironwood started, "It's alright. You and I both know what happened here. This is a completely ridiculous time to hold a court martial, but we have the witnesses and documentation to dismiss all of this." The general shifted his attention to his countrywoman, "Before I go anywhere, I need to know what's going to happen to the men under my command, here in Vale."

Winter hesitated. More than the delivery of her message, this was the question that she had been utterly dreading to acknowledge. "They will be placed under the temporary command of… my father."

The general was stunned. When he found words that were not profane, he voiced his displeasure with the news. "I'm sorry, Winter. That is simply unacceptable. Your father is a powerful and influential, but he is not a military man. He has no business leading soldiers. Why didn't the council send another General, or at least someone with experience?"

"To put it simply, they have all been deployed. My father was willing to loan his ship out for this mission to be possible. Unfortunately it's like you said, his power and influence were enough to assure his leadership. Military advisors were assigned to our task force, but he largely ignores them, and no one can realistically hope to confront him about it." Winter did her best to uphold a resolute demeanor. She had never been called on to be what was essentially a Military Police detachment, but she was filling the role admirably.

"Atlas is deploying its military? For what purpose?" General Ironwood was a tactician, and not just on the battlefield. His line of questioning for Winter was designed to gather as much information as possible without openly resisting his own arrest. This was for the benefit of Qrow, who would not be exposed to this information otherwise. Qrow could see the strategy that the general employed as well. He was irate with the Atlas High Command, and by extension, Winter. But it was in his best interest to remain quiet and absorb as much as he could..

Winter was no fool, but she knew that the information that she was sharing was not sensitive. She quickly glanced at her watch, and appeared satisfied with what she saw. "It's like Qrow said before. The only information that the people of Atlas were exposed to was the broadcast from the Vytal Festival. When that feed ended, the broadcast switched to what I can only describe as a shaky video taken from a handheld camera or scroll. We saw infantry units, mechanized units and airships, each marked with the Insignia of Atlas attacking each other, and just about everything else they came into contact with in 's why there is a court martial. Atlas High Command believes you to be in some way negligent in your duty. When the second broadcast ended, there was nothing. We only knew what we saw, and what we saw was very incriminating. The command to deploy the fleet to defensive positions was given shortly after the CCTS blackout. Now, if you please, I think we've delayed for long enough. We can speak more once we're aboard the ship."

Qrow attempted to remain as calm as he could. Both Winter and Ironwood had deflected all of his attempts to stop this lunacy. They were both mind-numbingly disillusioned in their patriotic zeal. "So that's it then? You walk off into the sunset, and drag half of Vale's remaining defenses with you?"

"I'm sorry, Qrow. These are my orders. To break from them would be… unwise. Especially considering what my superiors already assume about our forces in Vale. General Ironwood's fleet was deployed here to provide increased security for the duration of the Vytal Festival. Since I believe it is safe to say that the Festival has concluded, its presence here is no longer required. I know what that sounds like, Qrow, but I have no choice." General Ironwood could sense that the conversation was winding down, so he rose from the table and began to put on the remaining articles of his military uniform.

As he dressed himself, he spoke as cryptically as he could to Qrow. "You and I know what's really going on here. There is simply no way to explain the real dangers that are present in all of this... At least, not without causing a lot of confusion and panic. I'm sure that I'll be cleared of all of these charges once I get back to Atlas. For now, I see no reason to cause a commotion. The timing of this is unfathomably poor, but I will not disobey a direct order from my superiors. I hope you can understand."

"Loud and clear. You two have a nice time in Atlas. Make sure to send me a postcard when you get there. If you want to look me up, try the Xiao Long residence in Patch. That's where I'll be taking the girls, since this place is about to become a war zone again." He got up from his seat and moved purposefully toward the door.

Winter spoke up, "You know, the offer still stands. You could come with us. You and the girls."

He opened the door, then looked back, laughing disingenuously at the ludicrous suggestion. "I don't have time for you any more. Seems to me that I've gotta go make some new friends, since my old ones just turned their back on me." On his way out the door, Qrow grabbed Ozpin's cane, which had evidently been leaned against the wall since the debriefing.

Ironwood tried to reason with him. "Qrow, you know it's not like th-" The door slammed shut.


	21. Arc of the Covenant

Chapter 21 - Arc of the Covenant

Qrow just stood outside of the door, fuming at the events of the last fifteen minutes. _How can anyone be so stupid? Somebody frames your military to make it look like you're invading Vale, so what do you do? Mobilize your fleet and put the ground units on high alert. Brilliant. Atlas is playing right into our enemy's' hands, and they don't even realize it. Ozpin was right the whole time and we all knew. And still, Ironwood insisted that his show of arms would deter any form of attack. His greatest strength became his greatest weakness. I won't fault him for not seeing that. He's just… never really been proven wrong. Poor guy… his first real chance to use his show of force, and it all gets turned against him. They'll probably roast him back in Atlas too. He's too proud to kick and scream._

The time Qrow took to gather his thoughts also allowed him to cool down a bit. Part of him wanted either Winter or Ironwood to emerge from the door behind him. He wanted another crack at them, even though it was abundantly clear that trying to stop any part of this process was a fool's errand. He began the walk back to the room where his nieces were staying. _So… looks like I need to start thinking about an exit strategy. The units under Ironwood's command aren't quite what I would call life support for the safe zone, but the sight of them pulling out is gonna do a number on the morale of everybody putting themselves in harm's way for the greater good of this city._

Before taking the left hand turn into the stairwell, Qrow looked back down the hall one more time. When the briefing room remained closed, he resumed his march upstairs. He only made it to the landing halfway up the stairs before the door at the top swung open revealing Jaune, with Weiss in tow. When they saw one another, there was an awkward silence. Neither of them was really sure how to start a conversation with the other. The words they had spoken to each other were very few, and really only of consolation and support.

It was at the front of Qrow's mind that the last time they spoke, he had asked Jaune to come find him when he thought he was ready to move past his loss. The implication of his request was to find out what the young huntsman had seen… how much he knew about the things that no one was supposed to know. It was interesting timing, in his opinion.

Jaune was as driven as he had been since waking up inside of that rocket locker. The words that this mysterious, hardened huntsman had said to him the day before were still etched in his memory. Even though it felt like it had been years since they first met in the doorway of Ruby and Yang's room, Jaune remembered every word. He'd gone over it in his mind countless times over the last day and a half. _There are some things you need to know... some things that are going to make this picture a lot clearer. When you're ready, come find me, and we'll talk._ He had passed through each stage of grief, on his way to the final one, acceptance. For him, there was no way to find comfort in acceptance without understanding. Qrow had promised that to him.

Ironically, neither of them was the first to speak. "Where's Winter?"

Qrow groaned at the mention of her name. "I could tell you a whole sob story about the last fifteen minutes, but I might become interminably depressed if I have to relive that."

Weiss was clearly alarmed by the tone and the choice of words he had chosen. "What are you talking about? Did something happen to her? Where is she?"

Qrow wanted nothing more than to just deflect the entire conversation. He was so far beyond finished concerning himself with the court martial that it actually made him cringe to think about it. "Slow down there princess. We just had… kind of a rough conversation in that forsaken briefing room."

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, expecting more information to follow his short summary. When he remained silent, Weiss became irritated. "Is that it?" Sarcastically, she asked, "Could you be any more vague than that?"

"Yes?" he quipped. Then Qrow remembered that the Schnee family did not handle snark particularly well, so he did his best to both inform and warn Weiss at the same time. "Listen, I'm done talking to your sister. We're not seeing eye-to-eye on something, and that's not going to change. I would tell you to go talk to her if you want to know more than that, but she's kind of… gone off the deep end. Long story short, your dad is here, and by some Atlesian wizardry, he's in command of every one of Ironwood's units in Vale. Including Ironwood. And he's leaving with them. I don't know how else I can really advise you other than to say that you need to be careful around your family. They're more or less acting as puppets for the High Council in Atlas."

It was a lot of information for the young girl to take in, and it wasn't even the whole story. Weiss had spent so much time in Vale that she had almost forgotten how mechanical the people of Atlas could be with their rigid military structures. She understood the cold, calculated way her father had acted all too well, and even Winter could be very regimented when she was on duty. Weiss just wanted to believe that the good in people would supersede all of that. The harsh reality of what she was hearing left her with no clear understanding of what benefit might possibly come out of a military withdrawal. "They're taking everything and leaving?"

"That about sums it up, yeah." Qrow paused long enough that Weiss began to descend the staircase as quickly as she could. As she passed him, Qrow grabbed her firmly by the shoulder. The force of his grasp startled her, but got her attention. "Weiss, you've been through a lot over the last few days. I can tell you're a good kid. You're smart, caring and a hell of a fighter. I don't think there's any easy way to tell you this, but I think you're going to have to make a choice between your family and your team. I can't fault you either way. But in case this is it, I need you to know that you're... alright in my book... for an ice queen in training…"

During their conversation, Jaune had made his way down to the landing at the halfway point of the staircase. He now stood with Qrow and Weiss. "Wait, you're leaving? Now?"

She looked at Jaune as if he was crazy. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going anywhere. If Winter and my father want to go back to Atlas, then that's their decision. I have another family here in Vale to take care of, and I'll never abandon them… or anyone that I consider a friend. There's just some loose ends that I need to tie up, and that means I have to face my father, no matter how much I don't want to." Weiss removed Qrow's hand from her shoulder, and faced him. "And don't think that just because you said nice things to me that I've forgotten about the incident with the pudding. I'll have my revenge." She smiled, turned, and made her way to the bottom of the stairs, stopping short of walking through the doorway. "Oh! If Ruby wakes up before I come back, make sure to tell her that she owes me… like, big time for dragging her down from that tower."

They watched as Weiss disappeared around the corner before once again, establishing an awkward silence, which lasted until Qrow broke it in the most direct way he could come up with. "So, you ready?"

Jaune's answer was immediate, but his voice was shaky and uncertain. "As ready as I'm gonna be."

"Good. Come with me," Qrow said as he continued his path to the top of the stairs. The walk down the hallway to room 226 seemed to take an eternity. Both men remained silent. Jaune was contemplative and a little bit nervous about the conversation he was about to have. Qrow was still upset at the way his day had gone since receiving his gift, but otherwise maintained his usual hardened exterior. As he stepped up to the door to enter the room, he thought for a moment, then declared aloud, "Nah, better not." Qrow turned around, and walked across the hall to the now vacant room 225. "We're going to need some privacy for this."

A million thoughts raced through Jaune's head. _Who is this guy… really? What's he gonna say that can possibly explain the stuff that I saw back at the school? What's the deal with the secrecy?_ The door opened in front of him, and Qrow escorted him in, before shutting it behind them, and sitting down on the edge of a table.

"You'd better get comfortable, kid. This could take some time." Jaune nodded, and moved across the room to take a seat on the bed that had previously belonged to Blake. "So, let's get this out of the way before I say anything else. I need you to tell me that you're absolutely sure you want to hear this. It's not going to be easy to swallow, and you're probably never going to look at the world in the same light. But more importantly, I need you to swear to me that you will never tell another soul about this without consulting me first."

Jaune considered the words that were said, but he had already made up his mind. His resolve was clear from the intense look in his eyes. "I'm ready. And I won't tell anybody. I just need somebody to explain what in the world I saw down there..."

"Good. I've been in the market for a new ally. Looks like you're it. I'll start with the basics. The Name's Qrow. I-"

Jaune cut him off, "Is that a first name or a last name, because… I have this teammate, and we just call him by his last name, but it's-"

He was clearly irritated by the lighthearted banter. "First name. Qrow. Like the bird. But with a Q. Feel better now?"

"That makes no sense at all, but I guess, yeah." Jaune noticed the palpable impatience on the face of his counterpart. "Sorry, keep going."

Qrow rubbed his hand against his own forehead. It had now been dark outside for some time. Between the arguing with Winter and staying awake for entirely too long, he was exhausted. He let out a long sigh before continuing, "I'm here because your headmaster, Professor Ozpin has trusted me with the responsibility of gathering information about the enemies of the civilized world. There are people out there who look at the peace we've maintained for so long, and choose to see it as something else. I think of it as more of a Yin and Yang, where peace is in constant flux with the forces that conspire to disrupt it. In the last eighty years there has been an imbalance, and our enemies now strive to correct that by toppling the status quo."

"So… these people… are trying to start a war or something?"

"You could say that, yeah. I don't know all of the details. Ozpin could tell you more than I can, but I have no idea where he is." Qrow inspected the cane of his missing ally, causing Jaune to perk up.

"That's Professor Ozpin's cane! Where did you find that?"

"Weiss found it down in the vault. After she… saved me from a giant griffon, she handed it to me." Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute. When was the last time you saw Ozpin?"

Jaune hesitated, "We- Pyrrha and I were down there, in the vault with him. He told us to go find Glynda, Ironwood and you… and to bring everyone back. He was pretty much at a standoff with this flying witch lady."

With this little bit of information, Qrow had pieced together that Jaune and Pyrrha would have been the last two people to see Ozpin before he disappeared. This meant that the things he could possibly learn from Jaune might confirm some of the theories he had about what happened. "When you were in the vault below the school, what else did you see?"

"I saw… a machine. There was a girl already inside when we got there. Not a young girl, but not old either. She was sleeping or something. Ozpin told Pyrrha to get inside the other part of the machine, and then he turned it on. I didn't see where she came from, but out of nowhere, another woman appeared in the vault. I recognized her, but I thought she was just a student from a visiting academy. She fired an arrow at the sleeping girl, and this light shot out of her, and into the woman who shot the arrow. After that, she kinda just started to float in the air, with this fiery sort of… aura all around her. I tried to attack her, but she brushed me off without an effort. Then Pyrrha tried to fight back, but Ozpin stopped her and told both of us to go find you."

Qrow paid close attention to the story, and his expression became increasingly grim as it went on. By the time it was over, he had cupped his hand over his eyes, as if rubbing them would somehow make it all go away.

His lack of a verbal response was eating away at Jaune's hunger for information, "Did I say something wrong? What does all of that mean?"

He dropped his hands to his sides, resigning himself to laying everything on the table for Jaune to consume. "It's all wrong… Well, it's all bad, anyway. The girl you saw die, her name was Amber. She was one of four unnaturally powerful individuals in the world that we know as maidens."

The disbelief in his voice was easily discernible by the high pitch he used to ask, "Like the fairy tale?" Qrow nodded affirmatively. "But...that doesn't make sense. That's a legend… a bedtime story…"

"An unfortunate reality, I'm afraid. You saw it with your own eyes. If she could fly, and fought with fire like you say, then you've seen a small sampling of a maiden's powers. Specifically, the Fall maiden. If you're as familiar with the story as you say, then you know that there are four of them… and that's as far as the children's story goes. But there's more. When a maiden dies, her power transfers to the last person in her thoughts, within a set of rules." Qrow tried to think of how to condense the selection process. "It's gotta be a reasonably young girl, basically. The problem is that at some point, someone figured out that if you are able to kill a maiden, you're probably going to be the last one she thinks about, and that power then goes to you… again… as long as you play by the rules."

Jaune's familiarity with the PG version of the story made the R-Rated version a lot easier to follow. "So, what I saw was the transfer of a maiden's power. That makes sense. But I don't understand… You called the maidens 'unnaturally powerful individuals'. Why didn't she fight back?"

"What you saw was… something new. For a short time, there were two people splitting the power of one maiden. Amber was attacked once before, which explains why she was unconscious… not sleeping. If I had to guess, I'd say it was the same girl, but I couldn't get a good look at her when I interrupted the first attempt to steal her power."

Jaune was anxious to steer the conversation in the general direction of the answers that he wanted. "Alright, so far this all makes… some sense. But where does Pyrrha fit into all of this? And what was that machine?"

"After the first attack, we brought Amber to the vault. It was safe. It was close, and no one really even knew that it existed. As far as the machine she was in... it has two purposes. One was to keep her alive. I'll get to the second one later. Ozpin believed that the powers of a maiden needed to transfer naturally in order to maintain balance in the world. If someone was to… steal the powers, then they could manipulate them in ways that they were not originally intended to be used. His goal was to find a candidate to receive the powers of the Fall maiden if… when she died, and instill in her the values that are expected of a maiden. The good news is that he found a candidate. The bad news is that it didn't matter, because there are no absolutes when it comes to these transfers. In other words, it's not an exact science. We had our theories, but there was no way to tell whether the power would seek out its other half, or pass on to the next person in line normally. Sensible people don't just experiment with the lives of others… and that… brings us to Atlas."

"What? How does any of this involve Atlas?" Jaune asked abruptly.

An almost painful smile overtook Qrow's face. "I don't have enough fingers to count all of the things I hate about Atlas, and once again, I don't know all of the details. But… I can tell you with absolute certainty, they've done their research into the science of Auras… morally or otherwise. The machine keeping Amber alive was also designed to kill her… in a manner of speaking."

A look of horror overtook Jaune's face. "Pyrrha got into that machine… and when Professor Ozpin turned it on, she was screaming!" His expression shifted to anger, "What was he doing to her?!"

"Slow down," Qrow said calmly. "I don't know anything about how the machine works. It's like I said, Atlas developed it. As much as it was explained to me, Pyrrha was in no danger. But this is the part where I tell you that the second purpose of that machine was to transfer an Aura. It doesn't directly kill anyone. Instead, it's supposed to be capable of moving a life force from one body to another. The body with no soul left to inhabit it is effectively dead. But the power of a maiden is allegedly attached to that person's Aura."

Jaune's anger became confusion. "I don't get it... you wanted to put two Auras into one person? Into Pyrrha? Why?"

Qrow grimaced, "I hate to say it, but the whole plan hinged on the power of the Fall maiden behaving like we expected it to. Ozpin hoped that one half would seek out the other in the event that either girl died. So he chose his candidate, or in his words, guardian. That's where Pyrrha comes in. She was strong, smart and most importantly, she was of exceptional moral character… all things that a maiden should be. It didn't take much to convince her to become the Fall maiden, but when she found out what she would have to do to gain the powers, the conversation changed. We told her all of the same things I just told you, and gave her until the end of the Vytal Festival to make her decision."

Jaune developed a disgusted look as he began to relive every moment that he shared with Pyrrha since the beginning of the tournament. He tried to pick up the pieces of the shattered girl he had known in her last few days. Her every action began to make sense. The mood swings, the sadness and the outbursts… Everything was starting to come together. "Do you even understand what you asked her to do? You think she just had to make a decision? You asked her to decide the fate of a girl she didn't even know. To play god."

Qrow kept a level head despite the accusations. "We didn't ask her to kill anybody. We told her that Amber's aura would be merged with her own. No one knew what would happen after the transfer. She just wanted to help, Jaune. You said it yourself, she attacked the woman who had just acquired the complete power of the Fall maiden. Before that, you said she got into the aura transfer machine. No one forced her to do that. At some point, Pyrrha made a choice. I don't know when or how she made her decision, but it couldn't have come easily for her…"

His disgust persisted, "Yeah. No kidding. I know it wasn't easy for her. She was never even the same person after your little chat. I'd catch her staring off into space… eyes glazed over. Even when she seemed really happy, she was only a split second away from a total breakdown. It was like the girl I grew so close to was gone. It sounds a lot like you're telling me that she knew that her decision wouldn't end anyone's life. I get that. But it seems like whatever the result of this transfer was supposed to be… it could have made her into a different person entirely."

"I could tell that she had a lot of reservations about the transfer. Most of them were in regard to the immorality of it all. Maybe it was our best option, but that didn't make it a good option. Ozpin said that Pyrrha's life would become intertwined with Amber's, and that terrified her... She was absolutely afraid of losing who she was, I- we could all see that in her eyes." Qrow tried to be as understanding as he could. "Looking back, I'm sorry we put her through that. I really am. She-"

"-was afraid of losing me…" Jaune finished the sentence with his own words. The interjection created a momentary void, where both men tried to attach meaning to the new train of thought. "When things got as bad as they did that night… she must have made the decision that it was better to lose herself than to lose me. I can see that now. But… even after the transfer didn't work… her resolve was never broken." Jaune was, for the first time since hearing about Pyrrha's fate, fighting off tears. "I thought… I knew she fought the maiden to protect me… but I just never understood that she was more scared of losing me than losing herself."

Qrow could see that the young huntsman was beginning to accept that Pyrrha's death was of her own volition. "It's like I said before. Whatever she did on top of that tower… it bought us enough time to save Ruby and Weiss. And you're still here too, Jaune. We're all part of her legacy. You shouldn't be sad. She achieved her goal." The wily old huntsman waited for a few minutes while Jaune collected himself.

By now, it was well after midnight. Qrow decided it might be best to call it a night. They could reconvene in the morning to tie up any loose ends, if necessary. But Jaune had one more thread that he wanted to follow. "So… where do we go from here?"

Qrow laughed, "We? I don't know where _we_ go from here. I know where I'm going. And I know where you need to go." He reached across the table he had been sitting on, for a piece of scrap paper, and a nearby pen. It only took a moment for him to scribble something onto it. He then walked to Jaune's position on the bed, and held the paper out in front of him. "Do some research on Haven. And spend a few more weeks here. Take care of your team, your friends, Weiss. Then, go to that address. "He handed the paper to Jaune, and began to walk towards the exit.

Jaune inspected the note for a moment, "This is in Patch, why did you tell me I needed to know about Haven?"

Qrow stopped in the doorway, "Because you're not going to Haven alone. Ruby's going to wake up one of these days. I have a... pretty good feeling I'm right about that. When she does, she's going to want to find answers. Just like you did. She doesn't need to know about maidens, but she'll need guidance from someone who does. Bring a team, but save a spot for a pipsqueak in a red hood."


	22. Cold War

Chapter 22: Cold War

"Are you ready to go, sir?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose…"

Winter could sense the frustration in General Ironwood's voice. She knew it all too well, but following orders from a ranking office was the most important protocol for anyone enlisted in the military of Atlas. It was barely a week ago that she had been asked to leave a high level meeting at the insistence of a drunk, in accordance with the wishes of her superior. In this case, she did not outrank the general, but her mission had been sanctioned by the High Council. Therefore, she was a delegation from the highest military authority in all of Atlas.

General Ironwood had taken the first few minutes in Qrow's absence to finish putting on his military attire, not to mention fix his hair, which had been in complete disarray since waking up from his impromptu slumber. He assumed that he would not be returning to this room any time in the near future, so he gathered up all of the sensitive documents that he had accrued since being marooned in Vale by the destruction of his ship. He kept his hand cannon in its holster. If a time came where Winter asked him to turn it over to her, he knew that it would be game over for him.

"Alright. Let's go then."

Winter made her way to the door first, and opened it for Ironwood. She motioned for him to exit. As he did, Winter noticed something catch the general's eye as he stepped into the hallway. When she followed him, it became clear what he saw.

A troubled young voice called out from across the hall. "Winter?"

Her eyes shifted to the source of the voice. Her head followed their lead. By the look of it, her sister had been waiting for them to leave the briefing room for some time. She had leaned herself against the wall opposite of the entry to the room. Her appearance was a bit of a surprise, but at least she looked respectable. "Weiss, you look well," she paused for a moment, "How… did you know where to find me?"

Weiss completely ignored her sister's formalities. "What's going on? Why is everyone leaving?"

Winter grumbled to begin her retort. "Qrow…" The fact that Weiss knew anything in regards to her mission pointed to Qrow shooting his mouth off. Again. Nonetheless, she then returned to a more regimented demeanor to address the rest of her sister's question, "I'm afraid that information is classified, sister. It is also highly sensitive, and not to be discussed in the middle of the hallway such as this. If you… must... know more, then I would ask you to accompany General Ironwood and I back to father's ship. We can discuss what happens next once we get there."

The younger of the two sisters was not thrilled with the prospect of going to her father's ship, but she knew that a confrontation with him was inevitable. "Fine," she said reluctantly, agreeing to her sister's terms. "But when we're done, I'm coming back here. I have no interest in returning to Atlas."

"If that's what you want… I... have no official jurisdiction over you here in Vale." Winter glanced over to General Ironwood, who waited patiently at a distance so as not to impose. "I think it would be best if we proceed. There is no need to make a scene."

General Ironwood took the lead along their walk to the exit of the building, just ahead of Weiss and Winter. In accordance with the orders she had been given, there would be no official announcement of the withdrawal of Atlas' troops from Vale. The court martial would also be kept out of the public eye until it could be properly carried out. With these things in mind, the three citizens of Atlas made their way out the front doors, and across the street, towards the private transport ship that would ferry them up to the titanic vessel belonging to the Schnee Dust Company.

Before they could board the tiny transport, they were stopped again. This time, by a stronger, more authoritative voice. "James! Where, may I ask, are you off to?" General Ironwood and both his official and unofficial escorts turned around. Before them stood Glynda Goodwitch, looking completely haggard in the dim light cast on her by the streetlamps overhead.

Unsure of exactly what he was and was not allowed to say to someone as informed as Glynda, he offered the most insubstantial response he could formulate on such short notice. "I've been... summoned aboard this ship by my superiors. They require my presence immediately and urgently."

Her hand quickly swept her tangled hair off to either side. She had suddenly become dissatisfied with her appearance, or finally acknowledged the presence of the Schnee sisters. "I'd like to join you, in that case." Glynda felt that as the person charged with establishing and upholding the integrity of the safe zone in Vale, it was part of her duty to be in the know regarding all manners of strategy and troop deployment. She could only assume that this was the purpose of their meeting.

Ironwood was not prepared to respond to Glynda's offer to come along with them. His silence created an awkward air between them. Winter entered into damage control mode, "I'm… afraid that simply isn't possible. This meeting involves the redistribution of Atlesian reinforcements, and involves Atlas personnel only."

The exclusionary response irritated Glynda, who had clearly been through a difficult day of border patrols. Her cuffs were torn, and her normally white dress shirt was covered with stains of all shapes, sizes and colors. The hair that she had attempted to restrain with a quick brush of her hand was hopelessly out of control. "Ms. Schnee. I have been given charge of the safe zone here in Vale. And while I respect the wishes of your superiors, you are currently operating within my jurisdiction."

Without responding, Winter took the five steps necessary to set foot on the transport ship. She then turned back to Glynda. "I do apologize, but I believe I have just stepped out of your jurisdiction."

The elder huntress glared at Winter for a short time before drawing her riding crop and aggressively moving towards her conversational adversary. Ironwood recognized the possible misconceptions that might result from an altercation between the two women, and stepped in front of Glynda before she could do something that she might regret.

She stopped just short of the general's position between Winter and herself. "James... It is in the best interest of your safety to avoid interfering with my actions right now."

Ironwood decided that despite giving away more information than his escort would be comfortable with, his words would be more delicate than the unending stream of barbs that usually accompanied Winter's monologues. "Glynda, listen to me. I can assure you that Winter is right. The things discussed aboard the ship will be set in motion regardless of whether or not you are present. With that said, I'm not sure how long it will be until I am able to return to Vale. If I could make a suggestion, find Qrow as quickly as possible. The last time we spoke, he… was a little upset. He made mention of taking his girls and leaving the city. You need to try to stop him."

"I can't run this city on my own, James. If Qrow leaves like you say, I don't know if I can promise that the people in this safe zone will remain… safe."

Ironwood looked at the ground, partly out of shame and partly because he hated that he couldn't be completely truthful with someone he had trusted to share his most tightly kept secrets… maidens and aura transfer machines, just to name a few. Before he began to speak, he picked his head back up, and made a point to rest a hand on her shoulder, as she had once done for him. "When this business with Atlas blows over, I'll be back, and we'll get back to fighting this thing. Together. I promise."

The gesture was of little comfort to Glynda. But she knew that James didn't make a habit out of saying something that he didn't mean, even if he was sometimes misguided in his judgement. She did not smile, but met the level of seriousness that her counterpart had established, "Well, as long as you know what you're doing… then I'll see you when you get back. Good luck." She then looked over his shoulder at Winter. "If I ever see you here again… Well, let's just hope that for your sake, I don't."

Winter made a sarcastic bow, and stepped further into the ship. Weiss, who had been watching helplessly, with no hope of saying or doing anything useful during the course of this conversation, silently and solemnly followed her sister aboard. Ironwood watched as Glynda slowly walked across the street towards the hospital. When he could feel Winter's eyes staring a hole in the back of his head, he turned around to join the Schnee sisters.

Glynda stood outside for a few minutes to watch the hatch close on the small ship. After it lifted off, she waited close to ten minutes while it completed its journey, and began to dock with the SDC ship before finally choosing to go inside. It was almost as if she expected something to go wrong. But deep down, she knew that it already had.

The interior of the massive luxury cruiser was less efficient than that of the military ships Ironwood had been used to. His own ships were stripped of anything that did not have a specific purpose for military operations. His current surroundings were garnished with beautiful, and surely valuable, metals and fixtures. For a docking bay, this seemed like unnecessary fluff that served no purpose other than to take up more space than it was worth. He considered that if this vessel even had weapons systems built into it, they would be completely compromised by the immobility created by the weight of all of the ornamental nonsense around him.

The docking bay itself was buzzing with activity. For as cramped as it was, ships were moving in and out as quickly as the small space made it possible. The transport that Ironwood was on had been waiting in the queue to land, but it was now their turn. The pilot expertly guided them to the bay floor, and opened the hatch, revealing that a welcoming party had been dispatched in anticipation of their arrival.

Before them stood a model of composure, class, and icy cold resolve. His presence was akin to that of an iceberg in the frigid waters that surrounded Atlas. He was flanked on either side by three soldiers, two enlisted men and an officer. A quick hand motion signaled the men on his right to escort the general and his two daughters off of their ship. The men on his left immediately saw to the small amount of baggage that had come with them.

No words had even been spoken before the cargo, human and otherwise, had been unloaded. The ship lifted off and set its course for Vale again, presumably to ferry more withdrawing units back to the larger vessel. Mr. Schnee had hardly even moved in the time that had passed since first meeting the arrival of his guests. His eyes were focused on the youngest of them, but not in anger or irritation. His interest in Weiss was more comparable to a mother bird watching its young struggle to return to the nest after failing to fly.

Weiss could see that there was some kind of sick satisfaction in her father's customarily smug demeanor. Despite this, she and her sister both curtsied as a show of respect for the man who had been charged with leading this expedition. General Ironwood simply remained fixated on the eyesore that resided on the man's upper lip. _A mustache? Why would he grow a mustache? He looks like the monopoly guy now._ He caught himself being very unprofessional in his thoughts, but indulged himself one more time. _I've got to stop spending so much time with Qrow._

Almost as if he could sense that he was the target of Ironwood's bemusement, Mr. Schnee broke his gaze with his youngest daughter, and leveled his stare to meet the much taller, physically imposing general. He took a deep breath before speaking, almost as if he meant to build dramatic tension. "Lieutenant, please take your men and escort General Ironwood to his quarters. I will join you there as soon as time permits."

His request was met with a prompt "Yes Sir," and the bustle of three soldiers and their powerless general heading off toward one of the exits to the docking bay.

His next order of business was with his long lost daughter. For this request, he spoke directly to Weiss. "It is good of you to join us. If you would allow these men to take you to your room, I should like the opportunity to speak to you privately. Please, make yourself comfortable. I will join you just as soon as I speak with your sister concerning the details of her mission." He smiled, but Weiss was certain that there was no emotion attached to the gesture.

Her response was as simple as "Yes, father," accompanied by a nod. It felt strange for her to actually say it. So much time had passed since their last actual conversation that this interaction felt very contrived. Weiss had held out hope that there would be a heartfelt reunion between them, but recognized the nigh impossibility of such a reality.

She allowed the soldiers to lead her out of the busy docking bay, only turning back to see her father speaking with Winter. Their voices were drowned out by the arrival of another transport, but she could tell from the expressions on his face that he had not changed even the slightest bit, aside from his new mustache. The sight of her father was obstructed by the automated closing of the bay doors behind her. "Ms. Schnee?" Her fixation had been broken by her senior escort. The lieutenant smiled nervously. Now that she was actually paying attention to him, she estimated that he was not more than a few years older than she, probably fresh out of a junior officer training academy. "Your room is just over this way."

Weiss acknowledged the officer before her. "Thank you. I'll be right behind you." It was at this moment that she had a realization. _He had a room prepared for me. Does he think- I will not go back to Atlas with him. Under any circumsta-_

Her moment of mental clarity was interrupted by an alarm going off over the public address system, accompanied by a voice. "All hands on deck. Grimm attack inbound. Threat level five. Prepare for defensive action. Repeat. All hands on deck. Grimm attack inbound. Threat level five. Prepare for defensive action."


	23. Walnut

Chapter 23: Walnut

The young lieutenant had never been in an actual combat situation before, but part of his training included a working knowledge of the International Threat Assessment Scale. He first turned to the two enlisted men who brought up the rear of the four person group. "You two, report to the bridge. See if there's something you can do to help. There's no reason that it should take three of us to escort Ms. Schnee to her room." They saluted, and hurried off to the command deck. Then, he refocused his attention on Weiss. "Let's keep moving."

Their pace quickened as the alarms continued to drone on over the speakers that were more accustomed to playing classical music than military sirens. "I mean no disrespect to your father by sending my two subordinates away, but I would consider keeping them here to be an inefficient use of manpower."

She agreed. The young officer's decision was most probably the correct one. But she also had no idea what kind of danger a threat level of five actually posed to her, so she asked. "Threat level five… What's that mean?"

"It's an internationally accepted scale for the perceived threat level of an incoming Grimm attack. One is negligible, ten is… overwhelming. In this case, level five most probably presents a danger to us, even in this ship. I can check the threat assessment report once I've seen you safely to your room." The young man's ability to rattle off facts pertinent to her question, while the alarm was still blaring over the speakers, and soldiers were mobilizing in the halls was an admirable sight to behold.

 _I guess that's what they train these guys for_ , she thought. They continued down the long hall until they reached the very last room on what would be the exterior side of the hull. The lieutenant entered a code on the security pad next to the door, and watched as it disappeared along tracks that left it cleverly hidden inside the thick bulkhead. He quickly ushered Weiss into her room, and then followed behind her. Her first impression of her new quarters was that it had been lavishly decorated, and bore a striking resemblance to the room she grew up in as a child. A large window gave her a view of the city below, and even Beacon, although it was dark and difficult to see. The alarms suddenly faded into little more than background noise as the officer entered the code again, this time from a keypad inside the room. The door slid closed into a secure, locked position.

He immediately reached to where a holster might have been, if he had been issued a sidearm. Instead, it was used to hold a scroll. Weiss saw him unbutton the tiny pouch, and remove his communications device from it. He immediately went to work tapping in clearance codes and pulling up information about the severity of the current situation. "How are you doing that?" She asked, recalling that the CCTS had gone down days ago.

He didn't break his concentration in trying to find the report that would expand his understanding of the incoming Grimm attack, but he did have the answer that Weiss was looking for. "All Atlesian warships house a medium-range communications array somewhere on board. This ship was built from the same basic design as such a warship. Therefore, it can act as a hub that scrolls can use to communicate with each other. Any time a combat situation presents itself, a report is filed that details everything an officer might need to know before entering battle. It's still no substitute for a missing tower, though. We can't call home without the long-range capabilities of the CCTS towers."

 _That explains it. That's how my father was able to call me before I left to get Qrow's gift. I saw the ship overhead, I must have been within signal range._ The idea of being reconnected with her father irritated Weiss, but the localized scroll network provided an undeniable strategic advantage that did not exist before the arrival of her father's ship. "So, lieutenant…" she began, before realizing that she did not know his name. She paused briefly, but eventually decided to just continue her thought anyway, "Did you find your threat assessment?"

"Walnut. Everyone calls me Walnut... I'm reading over the report now, give me just a second." Weiss tried to hide the childish smirk that appeared on her face upon learning that this officer in the Atlesian Military was called... Walnut. He noticed the smile, and stopped reading for a moment. "It's not my real name. But it's a good compromise when you have a name like Wallace Nutt." He went back to reading his report, smiling, "My parents had a sick sense of humor. I guess it must run in the family. My dad's name is Chester. They call him Chestnut."

Weiss was now laughing almost obnoxiously. "I'm so sorry! This is terribly inappropriate, it's just that this is probably the most uplifting conversation I've had in days." The laughter was apparently contagious, because Lieutenant Walnut joined in with a light chuckle. Even still, he just kept on reading the lengthy report. Under normal circumstances, he would have been rushing to the bridge with the rest of his squad, but his orders were clear. He was to stay with Weiss until such a time that Mr. Schnee arrived to speak privately with his daughter.

"It's fine. Everyone thinks it's funny, and I've found that life is so much more enjoyable when people are laughing. Besides, you haven't even heard my mom's name yet."

She was still trying to control her immature smile, but decided to take a shot in the dark, "Coco?"

"Not a bad guess… It's Hazel. My dad actually married a woman named Hazel, making her Hazel Nutt." He just shook his head at how ridiculous the given names in his family must have sounded.

Weiss didn't even know this young man, but almost in spite of the tragic state that the world was in, she had developed a certain respect for an officer of his age who was able to transition smoothly between work and casual conversation. Just as the laughter in the room died down, a large griffon rammed its head into the window, startling the two young Atlesians inside. The world of remnant apparently had a cruel way of maintaining balance between its positive and negative forces.

Weiss jumped back, both away from the window, and into reality. The laughter she had shared with Lieutenant Walnut had been therapeutic, but this intrusion into the jovial atmosphere that they had created was evidently a sign that it was time to turn their attention back to the dangers that they were faced with. Weiss reluctantly steered their conversation back to the report. "So, what did your report say about this attack?"

The griffon tried once again to break the glass, but failed to realize the density of the clear barrier. After all, this was more or less a converted warship. Knowing this, Walnut had chosen to ignore its repeated, futile, attempts to break in. He turned his attention to the startled heiress, and made an attempt to give her some assurance that she had nothing to worry about. "The glass on the hull of ship of this classification is six inches thick. That thing isn't coming in here." Almost defiantly, he moved closer to the window, looking through it in all directions as if he was trying to locate something.

Weiss still wasn't convinced. The Grimm she had seen were relentless, and most of them were defiant until the end. "What are you doing? Get away from that window!"

"I'm trying to confirm the information in my report. Threat level five indicates danger to all Atlesian units, this ship included. So there has to be something bigger than that griffon out there somewhere." He scanned the skies to the best of his abilities in the dark, but found nothing.

Speaking from experience, Weiss informed him, "I can assure you that there is something bigger than that griffon out there." It tried for a third time to break the wall of glass, but didn't even draw a reaction from inside the room. "Have you ever seen a giant Grimm Dragon?" Weiss joined her friend at the window, clearly emboldened by the confidence that he showed in his own safety. She pointed to the faint silhouette of Beacon Academy in the distance. "On top of the big tower. I can barely make it out in the dark, but if you look really close, you can see the outline of it."

Walnut looked for a few seconds before he thought he could finally see it, but he never had the chance to confirm what Weiss claimed was out there. "I just don't think I can see-" The entire ship suddenly jolted downward.

The two were briefly suspended in a state of low gravity, as the ship abruptly tilted downward near the nose section. As its stabilizers restored balance to the ship, they came crashing back to the floor, but immediately scrambled back to their feet. "What in the world could have caused that?" Weiss asked. From their vantage point, neither of them had a view of the front portion of the vessel, only the side. Weiss had flown quite a lot in her childhood. It was one of the, in her opinion, few perks of being the daughter of a dust mogul. But the sensation that she got from her father's ship shifting in such a strange way was unfamiliar to her.

Before an answer to her question could be given, the public address system activated again. "Threat Level adjusted to six. Large Grimm on the bow. Prepare for evasive action. Repeat. Threat Level six. Large Grimm on the bow. Prepare for evasive action."

"Never mind that I asked," Weiss said dismissively as her previous question had been resolved. "Can't they just shoot it off of us?"

Walnut looked rather distressed as he heard the report over the intercom. "They're going to try to shake whatever landed on us off by moving the ship. The weapon systems on this vessel have been significantly stripped down compared to a full-fledged warship. It would be tricky to hit whatever is out there. These ships are normally armed with a high powered laser, but this particular one utilizes a large caliber cannon. It's less expensive, and requires less power to use. It's a good option for defense on a civilian ship, such as this one. The problem is… the gun is mounted on the nose of the ship. We'll have to be pointed almost right at our target to hit it. Assuming that it can fly, that could prove difficult."

She understood, but by this time, Weiss had become fed up with being completely helpless in this extravagantly decorated room while there was a battle raging all around her. "I can't stay in here like this any more. You have to let me go out there and try to do something. I've been training for things like this for-"

His rebuttal was swift. "Absolutely not. You can not go out there Ms. Schnee. My orders forbid it. And besides, you don't even know what's out there."

Before Weiss could argue her case, she felt a shift below her feet as they began to move. At first it was only a slight change in her equilibrium, but after a few moments it became clear that they had accelerated to a cruising speed. "I wonder if that's enough to...get…it…"

Her voice trailed off as loud blasts and accompanying bright flashes began to light up the sky. Clearly, the ship had opened fire on something. Although she couldn't see what the target was, it was clear that their maneuvering had worked. In any case, she scurried to the window to try to observe whatever was happening. Just as she did, an enormous Nevermore flew past, not more than a few feet from the window to their room. It had apparently been exposed to the cannon fire that she had observed moments before. Both of its right eyes were closed, and a large black circle surrounded them, most likely caused by an explosive shell impact. Each flap of its massive wings seemed to cause more of a struggle than an upward thrust. The great bird was losing altitude as it flew out of sight.

Weiss tried for a few more minutes to locate the Nevermore in the skies above. She had assumed that it would continue to circle the ship, even if it stood no chance of victory. Wherever they had maneuvered to, she couldn't find it… or any recognizable landmark, actually... It then occurred to her that the ship was still moving quite quickly. "Aren't they going to turn back to chase it?"

Her guard gave his best explanation, without knowing anything authoritatively. "It looked wounded as it flew past, I would guess that we'll call it a day and move along."

Weiss quickly remembered why she did not want to be aboard the ship longer than necessary. "Move along? To where? Aren't you still evacuating units from Vale?"

"Your ship was one of the last to arrive, which is fortunate. If you hadn't been on board, I would still be standing at attention in the docking bay. Our eventual destination is the capital, but this may just be a tactical maneuver to distance ourselves from high concentrations of Grimm."

Weiss hated the confines of this… prison. She had no tactical awareness, no ability to move about the ship freely, and no assurances that she would even be permitted to leave if she so desired. "We can't be leaving. I made a promise to my friends… I'm not going anywhere!"

Lt. Walnut just stood near the door, looking rather solemn. "I don't know... what I can tell you to make you feel better about this... But I can not allow you to leave this room until your father arrives."

The latitude she was not being given aboard an SDC ship was mildly annoying to her. "So let me get this straight. You're not here to protect me, you're here to keep an eye on me?" As the words came out of her mouth, Weiss began to reconsider the reason that she was on the ship. Initially, she had been willing to give her father a chance at reconciliation, but if the ship was leaving Vale, and if there was truly nothing that she could do, then her visit amounted to little more than a trap.

"I'm really sorry, Ms. Schnee. You must understand that I have my orders. If I disregarded-"

Yet again, the PA system announced their status. "Imminent attack repelled. Grimm threat reduced to level one. Repeat. Imminent attack repelled. Grimm threat reduced to level one."

With the danger apparently cleared, surely, it would be safe to leave the room. "Wonderful! Now it must be safe to leave this room, which I will be doing as soon as you enter the code into that keypad."She regretted challenging her new friend's authority, but Weiss was not about to be carried back to Atlas aboard a glorified prison ship.

"I'm very sorry," and it appeared that he genuinely was. "That door does not open under any circumstances without your father's direct consent." He thought for a moment. "Ms. Schnee, I assure you, if I could-"

The anger that had become pent up in Weiss burst out in a sudden explosion. "Stop calling me that! I hate it! Call me Weiss. Call me Ice Queen. Call me… literally… anything but Schnee." The first outburst had not sufficiently cooled her off, so she decided to try a second. "Isn't there someone back home who you would give anything to protect? Your parents, or friends? Maybe you have someone special. I don't know. The point is, I would sacrifice anything to protect MY friends, and right now I'm being ripped away from them. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Wallace Nutt was taken completely by surprise. Their interactions up until that point had been predominantly friendly. He didn't understand what Ice Queen meant, exactly, but the point had been made. There were people back in Atlas who he would fight tooth and nail to protect. Everything she had made some sort of emotional connection with him. The thought crossed his mind to let her go, but the consequences of doing so would likely mean the end of his military career. He waged a war inside his mind, emotion clashed with duty. Fortunately for him, but significantly less so for Weiss, fate intervened.

The door to the room retracted into the bulkhead, and Mr. Schnee appeared in its stead. His words were concise. "Lieutenant, you are relieved. Return to the bridge and await new orders."

Walnut was not prompt in responding to this command, as he was still shaken from his scolding from this man's daughter. After a moment of collecting his thoughts, he dispassionately marched out of the room, offering only a sullen "Yes sir," to his council-appointed superior.

When he was adequately distanced from the room, Mr. Schnee looked at the young woman standing in front of him, and spoke again. "Come with me."


	24. Black Schneep

Chapter 24: Black Schneep

The walk from what amounted to little more than a prison cell, to her father's quarters felt like it took all night to complete. Now that she thought about it, Weiss considered that most of the night was likely gone. It had already been some time after midnight when she boarded the ship with her sister and the general. A few hours had passed between being locked up in her room and taking in as much as she could of the engagement with the Grimm.

So far, this exercise in testing Weiss's patience had only consumed three minutes of her precious time, but every step her father took seemed to be deliberately sluggish. The walk had been without interaction, except for the occasional passing crew member. The echo of dress shoes and heeled boots clacking against the marbled floors of the ship was the only soundtrack to their miserable journey.

Weiss had to wonder if her father took any enjoyment in this. She knew for sure that she didn't. The lowered brow and down-curved lips were enough to indicate that. Her face had adopted a pale shade of crimson which, considering her naturally pale complexion, made it abundantly clear that this was not a situation she had any interest in being in. At a younger age, her outward appearance could have been mistaken for pouting. Only the pent up frustration and modest control over her emotions separated her from just that.

At the same time, she wondered where they were going. The room that was prepared for her was secure enough, and Weiss saw no reason that whatever he needed to talk to her about couldn't have just been discussed there. She had been trying to conceive some way to begin this confrontation in her own way, but her father's almost ethereal presence in front of her made him nearly unapproachable on anyone's terms but his own. As a result, silence prevailed.

The awkwardness came to a head when they reached an elevator. Mr. Schnee pressed the button to call it, which caused the doors to open immediately. Evidently, it had already been on their floor. This was relieving for Weiss, as it was that much less time that she would have to wait in silence with this man. They stepped inside, and her father pressed another button. The lift began to rise for a short time, two floors according to the digital display above the list of floor selections, before coming to a rest. As before, no words were spoken.

The doors opened, revealing an executive cabin. Immediately outside of the elevator, there were several rows of seating, similar to what would be found in a commercial aircraft. The seating spanned the width of the room, four across by three deep, with adequate space in between to walk between any of them. On either end of the rows, there were cabin windows, through which Weiss noted that there was a faint light coming over the horizon. Past the seating, there was what appeared to be a small dining area, where she noticed her sister sitting on a luxurious chair. She was holding a steaming cup of what smelled like coffee, while tapping on her scroll. Winter noticed them enter the room, but chose not to break from the business she was attending to. As she scanned the room further, Weiss noticed a door past the dining area, which she assumed lead to her father's personal quarters.

She would have taken more time to examine the area, except that she could sense her father's eyes digging into her. He walked past her before she could even turn to acknowledge his gaze, and took a seat in one of the rows of cabin chairs, before finally speaking. "Come, sit down." He used his arm to indicate to the seat next to the one he had chosen.

Weiss cautiously moved toward the seat he had offered her, which happened to be next to the window. She was doing her very best to suppress the strange combination of frustration and anxiety that had come to a head in the last few minutes. As she sat down, she rehearsed the things she wanted to say one more time in her head. This moment had been months in the making, ever since they day she received the letter from Beacon Academy notifying her that she had been accepted.

When she finally sat down, she didn't even get a chance to speak before her father broke the air with a loud sigh. He then proceeded to ask, as she considered it, an incredibly disconnected question. "Why are you doing this?"

Weiss knew what he was asking, but she was not going to let him off so easily, without at least trying to elicit some sort of emotional response out of the ghostly figure sitting next to her. "Why am I doing what?"

"Don't be coy. You know exactly what I mean. For months, you tiptoed around our home, only to up and leave one day, travel all the way to Vale, of all places, and enroll yourself in a school specifically purposed to train you to be a huntress. You could be anything you want, and you choose work that amounts to little more than that of a grunt in some foreign military."

From across the room, Winter cleared her throat loudly, obviously displeased with the way her father spoke of her own line of work, yet not interested enough to join the conversation. Weiss let a smirk form out of the frown she had been wearing. "I'm surprised you even noticed. You were hardly ever home to begin with, and when you were, all of your time was absorbed with calls and conferences."

"It's not exactly what you would call... easy... to run the most powerful dust empire in the world. Every day was a constant battle. Import problems, export problems, labor problems, political problems… the list of things that I have to contend with on a daily basis is endless. But I overcame all of them. And because of the hardships that I endured, you were granted an extravagant lifestyle. Everything you could ever want... at your fingertips." He looked around the cabin, as if to indicate that everything, all of it, was possible because of him. "And still, you chose… to leave it all behind… Why?" He paused again, this time not breaking eye contact with his daughter. "WHY!?"

Winter's head perked up at the shouting. She had been passively absorbing most of the conversation from across the room. It was remarkably familiar, largely because she remembered having a similar conversation years ago when she joined the military. Staying home in Atlas had apparently spared her the wrath of her father that Weiss was currently being exposed to. Winter was surprised to see her younger sister remain unflinching even despite the outburst.

"I'm. Not. You," she began. "My name is Weiss, in case you didn't know. I think it's quite a nice name, but I guess you wouldn't know, since you never use it. I'm seventeen years old. This may be difficult for you to hear, but I'm not the naive little girl that you raised by explaining away your outbursts with, 'I had a bad day at work'. I know the things you've been doing with your empire to solve your problems."

The old man did not take kindly to being patronized. He scoffed at his daughter's remarks, "You don't know anything, apparently. Maybe you aren't a naive girl any more, but that doesn't make you any less of an uninformed young woman. Whoever is giving you this information should probably check their facts. This company operates on the most efficiently tuned business model that's ever been created."

Weiss shook her head at the constant state of denial that she considered her father to be in. "You've been trying to hide all of this from me for so long, you managed to convince yourself that the things you're doing aren't horrible. I know about your Faunus labor forces. I guess you forgot to mention that when you talked about the battles you fought with the White Fang, and how they terrorized our family. Gee, I wonder why they would ever do such a thing..."

Winter stepped into frame to try to snuff the flame before it detonated the powder keg that was their father. "Weiss, I think you may want to calm down and think about what you're sayin-"

"No! Winter, I've had years to think about this. I've read the company records, I've even talked to the victims that were left in the wake of this company's scorched earth 'business model'. I don't agree with the White Fang's motivations, but I understand them." Weiss angrily turned toward her father, who was suppressing his own displeasure. "The thing that I don't understand is what in the world is so important that you have been calling me every day for the last month, that caused you to go so far as to cut me off from your fortune. Then, when I finally get a chance to talk to you, I get locked in a room for an hour, then you ask me why I'm mad at you! What sense does that make?"

Her father closed his eyes and lowered his head. He took a deep breath before rubbing his forehead, almost as if he was lost in deep thought. Another breath came before he lifted his head and opened his eyes again. "Weiss. I will not apologize to anyone for the things I've done, rightly or wrongly, to get to where I am today. But I was wrong to try to manipulate you. And Winter. Whatever mistakes I made as a father drove both of you away from me." He took a moment to organize his words before continuing, "The company your grandfather started… the same one that I shepherd over now… and the one that some day, will fall to you… It is more important to me than anything because it has to be. Without it, we would have nothing. You are the next generation of everything that we have, Weiss. I saw what happened in Vale after that Torchwick fellow crashed a train into it. I didn't know what to think."

Weiss almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Before she could interject in any way, he continued. "If you truly want nothing more than to be a huntress. Then do what you will. I still don't understand why you chose not to train in Atlas, but that's a story for another day. The point is, you're in your first year as a student. I would have feared for your sister in such a situation, and she has full military training in addition to having completed her schooling back in Atlas. I called because I wanted to make sure that you knew what you were getting into. That's all."

Both Weiss and Winter were nearly speechless at the sudden outpouring of compassion that was coming from the heartless old workhorse. Weiss, in particular, had trouble coming to terms with what she was hearing. _Is he really going to try to… guilt me? Or is he being sincere? I've never seen sincere from him… Well, whatever game he's playing, two can play it._ "Dad... you don't need to worry about me. I have a lot to learn, but I've come a long way. I'm getting better every day and… even my summoning is starting to take shape." Winter's eyes widened a bit with the news, and she even flashed a brief smile.

"Once we're safely back in Atlas, you can show me everything you've learned," he said supportively. "Then, we can make a decision on the continuation of your schooling in Vale once this mess of a situation clears itself up. How does that sound?"

The whole conversation was like emotional whiplash. First anger, then understanding. Now Weiss wasn't sure if her father was following any comprehensible logic at all. Her only response was to avidly reject the proposal laid in front of her. "N-No. I can't… I won't leave Vale. I made a promise to my friends, my teammates… They need me right now, probably more than ever. I have to get back to them!"

Without knowing any of details that accompanied the events of the last few days, Mr. Schnee did not see any reason to allow it. "You don't have a place in Vale right now. If there is a war coming, I will not have my daughters standing opposite one another on the battlefield."

Weiss was shocked at her father's choice of words. "A war? What are you talking about? There is a battle to be fought, but it isn't between nations. Even if anything like that were to happen, I would much sooner stand with my friends and teammates in Vale. There is nothing left for me in Atlas."

He shook his head disapprovingly, "But you're wrong. We are Atlas. Our family is synonymous with it. When someone hears the Schnee name, they-"

"Despise it!" She finished the sentence for him. "The only thing our family's name is synonymous with is absolute power and control. I can't even begin to list the number of people who have immediately identified me as nothing more than a dust tycoon's daughter. I spent my entire life in Atlas, and I see no reason to go back. What makes you think I won't just run away again?"

"The full force of the mobilized Atlesian Military makes me think that, actually. When you ran off to Beacon the first time, the borders were opened. Travel was simple. Now? This may be the last ship in or out of Atlas until this all gets cleared up."

Weiss was now convinced that her father was no longer listening to her at all. Again. "You don't get it. One way or another, I'm going back to Vale."

Her father laughed at the audacity what he was hearing. "You are the heiress to the legacy of the Schnee Dust Company. Your place is in Atlas, where you will be safe… and considering that this ship is not stopping until it gets there, you have little choice in the matter."

Weiss stood up from her seat as her face became flushed again as her anger returned. Regardless of all of the things he'd said to give the impression that he cared for her, she realized that to her father, she was nothing more than an extension of himself. Someone to carry on his work when he was gone. To live up to the family name, whatever that had become. It was unacceptable. Since her first day at Beacon, Weiss had striven to not only distance herself from the negative connotations of her name, but she made every attempt to restore some modicum of honor to it. The way her father looked down on Vale, as if it were a second class nation, Weiss could see where the battle lines were drawn.

She was almost blinded by her anger. Yet, hidden somewhere among the frustration was a certain sadness about the way her father would most likely fail to understand what she had to say. "I don't want your company! I don't want your protection! I don't want your money! And most of all? I don't want you!"

Mr. Schnee's mouth dropped open a bit. The words that he tried to find to form some sort of rebuttal weren't there. Even Winter was in awe. Her eyes bounced back and forth between her two family members, waiting for someone to do or say something. When she noticed her father clench his fist, she decided it was a good time to intervene. "Father, excuse us. I just need some time to talk to Weiss. After that, we can resume this discussion with more… tact."

He did not respond, other than to grit his teeth, and look straight ahead angrily. Winter essentially dragged her sister out of her seat, and towards the elevator in the back of the cabin. Weiss did not fight back. In her estimation, any reason to excuse herself from the presence of her father was a welcome one.

Once the doors had closed behind them on the elevator, Winter spoke assertively, "You actually told him..."

"Of course I did. We talked about this already, back at Beacon," Weiss replied firmly.

Winter smiled back at her sister, almost as if she expected the response she got. "That settles it then." She quickly tapped a message into her scroll and sent it. "We've got work to do."


	25. Fall Weiss

Chapter 25: Fall Weiss

Weiss was at a loss for words. Her sister's sudden appearance as what could only be described as a turncoat came completely out of the blue. Winter was supportive, she always had been. But to deceive their father? Unheard of. The elevator reached its destination before Weiss could even begin to wrap her head around what might be in store for her next. "Winter… What are you-"

Her words were cut short by Winter's razor-like interjection. "Not now. I'll tell you more once we get back to your room." The doors opened, and they quickly disembarked. For some reason, there seemed to be more soldiers in the halls than there were before, but Weiss had little time to take note of anything else.

The walk back to the far corner of the ship seemed to take no time at all when she moved with a purpose. Compared to the casual saunter that her father had enjoyed on the trip in the opposite direction, Winter's pace seemed like a sprint. At times, Weiss actually had to bend her knees and employ something closer to a run in order to keep up. She wished she knew more about what her sister had planned for her, but soon enough, the journey ended, and they stood outside the room that had been set aside for her.

Winter entered the code to open the lock on the door, and then escorted her sister through the entryway. Once inside, the hatch was sealed behind them. Weiss's intrigue had reached its tipping point. "What's going on? Why did you drag me down here?"

Winter wrapped her arm around her younger sister, and ushered her over to the bed that had been ruffled significantly as a result of the turbulence caused by ship's evasive maneuvers earlier in the night. "Weiss, in all of the time I've spent both in training and in the field, I've learned a lot of difficult lessons. But two of them stand out above the rest. The first is that you do not, under any circumstances, give our father a reason to hold a grudge against you. Second, never force someone to violate their core values. What I just witnessed was... both of those things. I know how much you dreaded the moment that you had to speak to him, and the things you told him were quite clearly said from the heart. The way you stood up for yourself, your friends and your teammates was very noble."

Weiss buried her head in both of her palms. "But...it doesn't matter! Father was right. Once I get back to Atlas, I'm going to be stuck there. My friends are going to think I abandoned them! I promised them that I was coming back. Now? I don't even know if I'll ever see them again."

"But… you're not going back to Atlas," Winter stated stoically. Weiss lifted her head out of her hands, and gave her sister a perplexed look. "Father doesn't understand you. He never had the experiences that you have had. He grew up working for his father's company, not being sheltered from it like we were. It's all he's ever known. Maybe some day, you'll find it in yourself to reconcile your differences with him. Maybe not. I can promise you one thing, though. Being trapped in Atlas will only expand the rift between the two of you." Winter got up from the bed and stood in front of her sister. "Unfortunately, I cannot directly assist you in your escape… and under no circumstances can this be traced back to me."

Considering the things that she had seen over the last day, Weiss was having a difficult time understanding what her sister was trying to help her do. "Escape? What… how am I supposed to… Why are you helping me?"

"You're my sister, Weiss. I love you, and I don't want to see you wither away in Atlas. I can't help you personally, but I can give you a window of opportunity. This will not be easy, or without risk… and I can assure you that you will have to make difficult choices along the way. The only thing I ask of you is that you promise me that this is absolutely the path you want to forge for yourself. Once you take the next step, there is no turning back."

Weiss couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sister was offering her a way out of this mess. She didn't know how, or even what the risks involved would be, but anything would be worth the chance to get back to her friends in Vale. She practically jumped up from the seat she had taken on the bed and hugged her sister, nearly toppling her over in the process. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" The embrace lasted for several seconds before Weiss realized that she had not acknowledged the one thing requested of her. "Winter, I swear on my life. I have never been more sure of anything. This is what I want… what I need to do, and no amount of danger is going to cause me to stray from that path."

Winter reciprocated the embrace. "Alright then." For a moment, the two sisters just shared each other's company. As time passed, they eventually separated, and stood face to face. "I believe this is where we part ways, sister," she said as she glanced down at her watch, "Shift change is in twenty five minutes. That's when you need to be ready to go. The less people you encounter, the better… so move quickly."

Although very thankful, Weiss was also very confused. "Where am I going? What do I do?"

Winter was very succinct in her speech, despite saying very few words."That will all be explained to you. I've arranged for my contact to escort you to the docking bay. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm already running the risk of being implicated in your escape. I truly hope that the next time we meet, it is under more favorable circumstances." With that, Winter began to walk towards the door, stopping just before she punched in the code to open it.

"I don't think I can ever repay you for this," Weiss said apologetically.

Winter only half-turned her head back towards her sister, but she did not even attempt to hide her sarcastic smile. "You'll figure something out. Just take care of yourself out there. And good luck." Having said her goodbyes, Winter left the room, closing the door behind her.

With the little information she had, Weiss began to try to think of things she could do to assist in her escape. There was not much to go over. Literally the only things she had brought aboard were her weapon, her clothes and her self. A few minutes passed before a quick vibration in her pocket drew her attention. Reaching her hand in to tend to it, Weiss found that the number from which the message had come was unfamiliar to her. It simply displayed as a number on the screen of her scroll, with no name attached to it. Upon opening the scroll, she was met with the words, "Left nightstand, bottom drawer. Fifteen minutes."

 _Winter, what in the world are you planning,_ she thought. The lengths her sister must have gone to in orchestrating this were significant. Evidently, she had a partner who was not only in support of helping her escape, but willing to take the risk of being an accomplice in it. In any case, Weiss looked to the nightstand on the left side of the bed. There were military boots in front of it that she hadn't noticed before. _Who would have left their boots in my room…_

Weiss knelt down to move the boots out of the way so that she might open the drawer. When she pulled on the handle, the small storage area revealed a full set of Atlesian Military Attire, and a note that had no name on it, only a brief, almost enigmatic, line of text. "I hope you haven't grown up too much to play dress-up..."

 _You have got to be kidding me._ She carefully lifted the uniform out of the drawer and sprawled it out on her bed. There was no connecting bathroom on her side of the securely locked door, so Weiss would have to change her clothes right in the room. She considered the incredibly awkward option of wrapping herself in the bed sheets, in case someone entered the room while she was only partially dressed, before deciding to just bite the bullet and go for it.

She quickly kicked her heeled boots into the now empty drawer, and then removed her jacket. Some minor fiddling with her cloth belt saw it loosened, and lightly tossed onto the bed alongside her other discarded garments. Finally, she climbed out of her combat skirt, which was then carefully folded and placed on top of her boots inside the nightstand. Weiss Schnee, soon to be disavowed heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, now stood alone in her room wearing nothing more than undergarments and a pair of socks.

Proceeding from this point was very unfamiliar territory for Weiss. She put on the black undershirt first, finding it to be uncomfortably form fitting, and she couldn't even remember the last time she had been forced to wear actual pants. The long white trousers were a far cry from the dresses and skirts that she incorporated into every one of her wardrobes. Still, the clock was ticking, so she quickly pulled them on. She tucked the black shirt in and turned around to look in the mirror that was on the wall.

 _I look positively ridiculous,_ she thought. _How do these officers accomplish anything in such restrictive clothing?_ She faced back to her bed, and inspected the last major piece of her disguise, the coat. It was a very simple design. A high-collared white coat with dark grey trim running around both cuffs, the neckline and along the bottom, which Weiss estimated would only fall to her waist. The trim then traveled up the front of the uniform in an 'A' pattern until it met and formed a single line where the jacket overlapped, covering the buttons that secured it. _Well, here goes…_

She ran her arms through both sleeves, and pulled the jacket tight to her form, before fastening the buttons up the front, and folding over the grey trim that covered them. She ran the thick, black leather belt through the single loop on the back of her coat, and buckled it in the front. Two solid black ornamental shoulder pads with grey trim, connected by a metallic band in the front and in the back were placed over her head. A quick glance back into the mirror made Weiss reconsider the contempt that she held for her new wardrobe. It was by no means comfortable, but she decided that it was acceptably fashionable, for a military uniform.

All that was left were the boots and gloves, so Weiss folded all of her old clothes, and hastily stuffed them all into the nightstand. She took a seat on the bed, and pulled on the shin-high combat boots and tucked her trousers into them, before pulling the laces tight. Finally finished, save for her white gloves, she stood up, and nearly fell straight back down. Similarly to her reliance on dresses and skirts to make up the entirety of her wardrobe, high-heeled shoes and boots shared the same role for her footwear. The flat soles of the military-issue combat boots made her not only significantly shorter in stature, but also far less comfortable walking.

As she pulled the white gloves on, she tried to walk around the room to get used to the unfamiliar movements associated with wearing what would be widely considered normal footwear. Several laps around the room were completed before she felt comfortable enough to pass as an officer enlisted in the military of Atlas.

No sooner had she declared herself effectively disguised, a series of beeps could be heard from outside the room, followed by a solid tone. The door to her room slid open, and a familiar young officer stepped into the room, holding his index finger over his lips. He quickly stepped to the other keypad, and locked the door again. When he had finished, he moved very close to Weiss, inspecting her uniform closely, then stepped back, satisfied.

Lieutenant Nutt spoke very softly, but made no attempt to filter his words. "Weiss, let me just start by saying that I'm sorry. I wanted to come clean earlier. I knew that this was a contingency plan before I ever even met you. When I was going through my junior officer training, a select group of officers at the academy were chosen to shadow a Specialist. It's almost like how training huntsmen and huntresses learn from professionals. As it turns out, that was your sister. Her training as a huntress meant that her abilities far exceeded our own, but her decision making skills in the field were inspirational. I tried to learn as much as I could from her. Every chance I got, I picked her brain, and I think she appreciated my efforts to better myself. When I graduated from the academy, this mission was my first assignment. I met Winter again just after coming aboard. She must have assumed that she could trust me, or else had no choice. Before leaving the ship yesterday to go to Vale, she pulled me aside and told me that she might need me for something very important, but top secret. And so... here I am."

She took a moment to let the story sink in, before beginning what she assumed would be her own long-winded apology. "I'm sorry for the things I said to you before too," Weiss began. "I was out of line to question your character in light of my own personal problems. You seem like a good pers… What is that for?" Her apology was cut short by the sight of Walnut removing a large pair of shears from his pocket.

He held the scissors in front of him, and both he and Weiss stared at them apprehensively. "I'm just going to stop you before you get too far into apologizing to me, because you'll more likely desire to murder me after I tell you what the next step in our plan is."

"Oh God. No." She didn't even have time to think before the words came out of her mouth. Weiss could stomach a change of clothes, but that was more or less temporary.

From Walnut's perspective, it looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm really sorry Weiss. There aren't any officers in Atlas with white hair that runs down to their waist. It just isn't allowed. It's not as if there's a manhunt going on for you, but every person on this ship knows who you are, and where you're supposed to be. They have to because your father is in charge here. Even in disguise, the halls are still crawling with soldiers and officers, they would pick you out in a second with hair like yours."

As far as she was concerned, this had to be one of the 'difficult choices' that Winter had said she would have to make. She knew there wasn't much of an argument to be made, this would have to be done. The only reaction she gave was an exasperated sigh. "No, you're right. It's fine. Let's just get this over with." Weiss removed the clip that held her signature ponytail in place, and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it as much as possible. She looked at her new barber with a nervous, but still sarcastic smile, "Do your worst."

Walnut knew he was not a barber, and that by laying hands on Weiss, he was probably treading on ground that few men could ever hope to. He quickly straightened out the few imperfections that he could immediately detect in her hair, before cutting directly across, approximately midway down her neck. He took hold of the hair that was cut loose, and pulled it away from his patient, so as not to get her uniform covered in the long strands. The surgery only took a few seconds. "Done," he said flatly. When she turned around to face him, he held up the locks in his hands, trying to lighten the mood. "Do you want to keep it? Maybe... put it under your pillow?"

Weiss squinted angrily. "Don't do that. This is already a traumatic experience for me. Having to strangle you with my own hair won't do much to help that."

"Noted," was his response as he packed the hair into a small disposal bag and sealed it. He reached into his other pocket, and removed an official, Atlas Military issued hair clip, and handed it to her. "I'm not going to tell you how to do your hair, but most of the girls I knew back at the academy took whatever liberties they could with what they had to work with."

She did her best to pull her short hair into a high bun, leaving only a small section of her bangs to hang down on the right and left side of her head. Looking into the mirror caused her realize that this new hairstyle looked like some strange amalgamation of Winter and Ruby. "This… will take some time to get used to," she admitted.

Walnut glanced at his watch, "Well, you have… two minutes."

"And then what? I still have no idea what the plan is. Winter only mentioned something about the docking bay."

He didn't have time to think about how to explain everything in the greatest detail, so Walnut just started to rattle off everything he knew about the plan. "Shift change is in two minutes. At that time, most of the personnel on the ship will be switching to either on duty or off duty. That means there are going to be a lot of people moving around in the halls, making it our best chance to get you to the dock without drawing any attention. I'll take the lead, you just follow me." He noticed Myrtenaster laid near the edge of the bed. "You can secure your rapier through your belt in the front. If you stay close enough to me, nobody's even going to notice it."

She followed his recommendation, and tucked the weapon under her belt. "What happens if we make it to the docks?"

He corrected her, "When… we make it there, we head to the large bay door. The mechanics usually keep it opened unless we're under attack. It helps to circulate fresh air in there. Since they always have the ships running for testing and maintenance, the exhaust fumes tend to build up."

When he stopped talking, the silence in the room caused her to wonder if that was the end of the plan. As far as she could tell, there was no part of what had just been explained that involved her escaping the ship. "Is… there something else that I might need to know?"

Walnut formed a puzzled expression on his face. "Yes, but I'm not entirely sure what it means. Your sister just gave me two words to tell you." Weiss started at him blankly, as if to ask what the words were. "Landing strategy."

She threw her hands in the air, "Oh for the love of… And all this time, I thought someone was going to take me out of here on a ship."

"Sorry Weiss, I don't think that would have been very discreet."

"I understand, it's fine. It just looks like I've got some walking in my future, though. We've been underway for a couple of hours, so we're probably a long way from Vale."

Another check of his watch revealed that it was time to get moving. "Let's go. The night shift ends any second." Walnut opened the door with the keypad, and the two Atlesian officers cautiously stepped into the hallway, just as the low buzz played over the public address system, officially indicating the end of watch for the night crew.

Weiss was nervous, but not prohibitively so. Despite the risks that she knew existed, the payoff to all of it would be the chance to rejoin her teammates, and separate herself from her controlling father for what she could only hope would be a very long time. Their pace was in line with everyone else moving through the hall, and most of the crew paid no attention to them at all. Generally, it seemed like most of the personnel aboard the ship were young, likely fresh out of the military academy, like Walnut.

Around what Weiss guessed was the halfway point of their journey, she began to hear shouting from down the hall. As they drew nearer, the source of it was revealed to have come from the adjacent hallway that led to the elevator she had been on twice previously. A few more steps, and Weiss was able to identify the voice. His voice. After the night she had, it was practically burned into her brain. It flared up again, "I don't care who she is! No one talks to me like that!"

Weiss saw him as they passed across the junction between the two hallways. Her father had his back to her, thankfully. The poor soul who was the focus of his aggression in this particular instance shot back, "She just needs time, she'll come around. You can't keep treating her like she's a kid!" She saw her sister's eyes briefly catch a glimpse of her, and immediately resume their focus on the abrasive man in front of her.

She could only assume that her father had decided that he wanted to continue their argument, and Winter was doing her best to stall him. Weiss smiled at her sister, even though Winter was no longer paying attention to her, lest she run the risk of her father turning around.

Realizing that she had fallen several strides behind Walnut, she hurried to catch up to him, and they continued on down the hall as the shouting behind them faded back into obscurity. The rest of their journey was reasonably uneventful, but the intensity of the situation was not lost on Weiss. Her partner handled it with an unwavering steadiness that made her wonder if he wasn't some sort of half robot person from Atlas, like Penny.

The automated doors slid open in front of them as they entered the docking bay. Most of the crew inside were gathered around a table in the corner of the room that had doughnuts and a pot of coffee for the incoming day shift. As expected, the bay door was fully open, and the rising sun shined a bright morning light directly into the large room.

As they neared the opening, Weiss found herself staring down at the land below her. While she inspected the terrain, she heard a click come from behind her. She snapped her head up to see that Walnut held his scroll up, and had taken a photograph of her. "You don't even know how cool you look right now with the sunlight creating a backdrop like that." Her own scroll vibrated. "I sent you the picture." He lowered his voice, even though he realistically didn't have to, considering the sound of the wind created by the open bay doors. "In case you hadn't guessed, that was me who told you about the uniform in the nightstand. Your sister gave me your number. If they ever figure out the CCTS, let me know that you made it back to Vale safely, okay?"

Weiss nodded, "I will. And thank you. Again." She panned around the room to make sure that no one had become suddenly interested in two nondescript young officers standing in the docking bay. Although she wasn't familiar with proper form, Weiss did her best to offer a salute to Lieutenant Nutt.

He let a slight cringe form at the sight of such an improperly executed gesture, but realizing that Weiss wasn't really an officer, he decided to let it slide, just this once. "Close enough," he joked as he returned a proper salute to her. "And you're very much welcome... Good luck."

Weiss smiled, and turned once more to face great expanse of sky. _Well, I guess this is one story that… does… have a neat and tidy ending,_ she thought. Then she stepped off of the ship, and disappeared into the wall of sunlight.


	26. aSSiStaNce

Chapter 26: aSSiStaNce

 _You idiot. What were you thinking? She says she doesn't want to have to worry about her friends being hunted down by some psychopath, so what do you do? You kiss her. Brilliant._

"Sun?"

 _I said everything I wanted to say to her before she left… but somehow I'm sitting here thinking about it. Should I have followed her? Is it too late?_

"Hello...? Sun?"

 _Just_ _don't worry about it. She said she'd come back when it's safe. She will… probably... Blake never gave me a reason to doubt her. I mean, her will is pretty much unbreakable once she sets her mind to something…_

"Paging Sun Wukong, Mr. Wukong, please report to Remnant."

 _I wish I knew who this Adam guy is. If I had some kind of lead, some way to learn something about him, some way to contribute to the fight. What he did to Yang was pretty brutal, but he has to have a weakness. Dammit Blake, why couldn't you just let me help you?_

A hand grabbed Sun's shoulder. Without opening his eyes, he knew it was Scarlet. "I know you can bloody hear me! I thought I heard something out there." It was nearly midnight as one half of team SSSN sat at their camp in the woods, not far outside of Beacon. There was no campfire, as the light would attract the Grimm, so it was cold, dark and quiet. In his state of peace, Sun was able to sense that nothing posed any kind of imminent threat to them. Scarlet was just out of his comfort zone in a forest.

"You know, it's really hard to meditate while you're talking to me," Sun replied, aggravated that he had to break his train of thought. "And… I've never met a Grimm that's stealthy enough to sneak up on me, much less smart enough to actually try to gather intel on a team of huntsmen."

From a tree branch above them, a rapid bombardment of hushed words rained down on them. "He's not wrong, Mr. David. The Grimm here are far more likely to overwhelm us than they would be to attempt an ambush. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance that you make use of as much of your free time as possible to rest yourself. Our mission has been ongoing for almost a day, and a time frame has not been established to it's completion. It's difficult to say what sorts of challenges we will encounter in a hostile environment such as this. As such, it is best that we remain rested and nourished."

Sun had used the time provided by the lecture to remove, then peel a banana from his backpack. With his mouth full, and the speech evidently finished, he voiced his agreement on the points of rest and nourishment. "Ya hear that Scarlet? Food and Sleep. Thank you very much Professor!"

"Doctor." Oobleck's never ending battle to be identified by his rightful title raged on.

"Right, Thanks doc," Sun corrected himself. " I'm just gonna go back to meditating if that's okay with everyone." He turned to his paranoid teammate, "Scar, quit being such a baby. I'll protect you from all the big bad Grimm."

Scarlet's confusion manifested itself into words that were spoken without proper thought. "How're you gonna do that with your eyes closed?"

Coming to terms with the jolly, yet sometimes simple minded natures of his teammates had been his greatest challenge since first meeting them at Haven Academy. Scarlet David was a very resourceful fighter, and reliable to the point of being… useful. He was, however, a terrible tactician. His tendency to under think situations, leaving a lot of things to pure chance, often put him at a disadvantage that he was not always able to overcome with his improvisational style. "Uh… I'll... open... them... first. You know what?... you're making my head hurt. Just get some rest."

Silence overtook the encampment once more. Sun's thoughts immediately returned to the events of the previous night, against his wishes. He had spent very little time dwelling on Blake's departure since the night she left, which had by this time been barely twenty four hours. Unfortunately, his team had been split into two halves for the purposes of their current mission. Being on the second half, his job at this particular moment was to simply wait for a signal from the other half. This meant he had time to think. That is, at least until the other team gave them the all clear to advance. _This isn't what I had in mind when I signed up for this..._

* * *

After seeing Blake off, he had gotten some sleep, but it was nothing that could be seriously considered as any form of rest. In the morning, he forced himself to leave his favorite tree in Vale, where he had slept every night since arriving. He had nothing against sleeping in a proper bed. But his teammates, on the other hand, had proved be difficult to live with at times. Out of the four of them, it seemed as if Sun was the only member who really appreciated the value of quiet time to himself and a good night's sleep… even if it always eluded him somehow.

Despite the feeling of restlessness, Sun went inside, headed to the room where the signups for missions were handled, and immediately signed himself up for the Search and Rescue missions. It was mostly done to keep his otherwise idle mind off of stupid things like girls, or liking girls. As he picked up a pen to add his name to the list, he was almost immediately approached by two men...

...With very odd personalities. Sun recognized their voices from the tournament broadcasts, but he did not call Vale his home, or Beacon his academy. Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port were great unknowns to him. One of the mere handful of times he had ever seen them in person was at Amity Coliseum, before they ordered all of the students away so that they might hopelessly engage dozens of griffons on their own. Sun appreciated their reckless insanity.

As he wrote his name on the sign-up sheet, Port was quick to acknowledge his good instincts and obvious skill as exhibited in the tournament. After no more than fifteen seconds, his praise quickly transitioned into a story about hunting some kind of Grimm that was probably only half the size of what Port had begun to describe. While he rambled on, Oobleck explained that the mission they were offering was to take a team back to Beacon to search for anyone still trapped there. If the opportunity presented itself, the recovery of anything of some value to their fight against the Grimm served as a secondary objective.

Sun thought it sounded like a good opportunity to test his skills against daunting odds. Since returning to Vale on the same ship as most of the other students who fought in the Battle of Beacon, he had not been entirely helpful in the fight to defend or expand the safe zone. No one had specifically called him out for it, but inside Sun knew that he wasn't doing his part. This assignment could go a long way toward changing that, so he agreed.

The rest of the team was significantly less enthusiastic about going with Sun. Their first night in Vale had seen them carrying wounded civilians and students, among others, from transport ships to all corners of the hospital. The following morning, they went off to help patrol the perimeter of the safe zone with some of the members from other teams. Upon returning, Sage and Scarlet both collapsed in their beds. Neptune went looking for Weiss, as the last time he had seen her was just before she headed off with Ruby at the docks. He returned only after he made sure that she made it back to the city safely.

A compromise was made when Sun mentioned the possibility of saving a damsel in distress. That was enough for Neptune. The promise of adventure and loot was enough for Scarlet, and Sage wouldn't be left behind, so he agreed to come along without much insistence. The team took a few minutes to pack some essential equipment and gather their gear, before heading to their staging area in the courtyard across the street from the makeshift hospital turned base of operations.

The ragtag group of young men walked out of the front door joking and laughing with one another. Their upbeat demeanor lasted until exactly the second step from street level, where they encountered the leaders of their expedition. The more… portly… man was the first to speak. "Gentlemen. I believe it may be in your best interest to check your raucous conduct at the door. This mission is extremely dangerous, and not intended for first year students."

His partner appeared to be the exact opposite of Port, physically. Bartholomew Oobleck was at least half a head taller than anyone on team SSSN. He looked like a walking, talking, caffeine fueled scarecrow. Except for the fact that most scarecrows were better dressed than he was. "However. Considering the limited resources with which we are working, and the skill that your team displayed in the Vytal Festival Tournament, exceptions were made."

As if they had rehearsed it, Port and Oobleck once again traded speaking duties. "This mission will not be easy, nor will it be brief. Our goal is to make our way to Beacon. We will not be taking a ship. It would attract too much attention from the infestation of Grimm residing on the campus. Instead, we will approach along the rising cliffs to the northwest of the school, following along the edge of the large body of water that separates Vale and Beacon."

"Uhhh, excuse me," Neptune interrupted, removing a map from his pocket, then quickly unfolding it. His finger pointed to a specific location on the map as he spoke, "Don't you think it would be better if we made our approach through Forever Fall?"

Both of the professional huntsmen stared at Neptune in silence, as if neither was sure if they had correctly heard what he was suggesting. Oobleck was the first to regain his senses and speak. "Neptune, is it? Are you aware that a detour through the forest of Forever Fall would add days if not weeks to our journey? What possible reason could you have to suggest such a ridiculous thing?"

Before he could even think to answer, Sun did it for him. "Water. He's afraid of water."

"My word," Oobleck exclaimed in a demoralized tone.

Professor Port, having regained his own senses, filled in the void left by Oobleck's silence. "As the primary objective of this mission remains to rescue anyone still stranded at Beacon, a week long journey through a dangerous forest for no reason other than to avoid water is… stupid."

"We're wasting time here, gentlemen. It's a long walk to Beacon. If there is anyone left to save, I'm sure they would thank us if we were to hurry ourselves along." Clearly, Dr. Oobleck had little patience for a trifle such as discussing Neptune's aquaphobia. "Along the way, we will decide the best manner in which to split into two teams. I will lead one team, and Professor Port, the other. We will be able to cover twice as much ground this way, and with there being six of us, seven if you count my canine companion, each group will be more than strong enough to take care of itself."

Sun raised an eyebrow, having only just noticed the dog that now accompanied them. "Isn't that Ruby's dog?"

Oobleck deflected the question by simply refusing to acknowledge it. "No time for small talk! Beacon awaits!"


	27. Nomenclature

Chapter 27: Nomenclature

It was still early in the day, likely not even noon yet, although no one had bothered to check the time. They knew it was about an hour since they had departed from Vale, but Sun and his team had not yet gotten together to discuss the best way to split off into pairs. Port and Oobleck had taken the lead for the initial journey to Beacon, and allowed the young men to decide for themselves how they should organize themselves. As it turned out, only Sun and Sage were really involved in the conversation. Scarlet walked no more than a few inches from the cliff side, enjoying the beautiful view of the water crashing against the rocks below them. Conversely, Neptune was so distant from the rest of the group that he may just as well have gone through Forever Fall.

Sun looked to his left at Neptune, then to his right at Scarlet. Finally, he turned to Sage and put forth his idea to divide the team, "What do you think if I take Scar with me?"

Sage thought about it for a moment, then gave his personal synopsis of the team. "I don't think it matters much at all, really. They're both capable fighters. It's just that we have to compensate for certain… weaknesses. Neptune's fine as long as he's not near water or girls. And Scar tends to get a little cocky, and not think things through all the time. Putting them together might be a problem though. I think you're right to suggest taking Scarlet with you. You're level headed enough to compensate for his highly improvisational fighting style."

"I always knew you were my favorite," Sun said, acknowledging his teammate's astute observation of the styles and tendencies of the other members. Then he turned to Scarlet, who was by this point doing what was essentially a tightrope-like walk along the edge of the cliff, several yards to their right, and summarized their chances of success. "We're dead."

"We'll be fine," Sage assured him, but not without laughter at Sun's hypothesis. "Don't forget, you promised Neptune a damsel in distress. I'm stuck being the voice of reason to try to slow him down so we can properly search the school… I can already picture the tunnel vision he's going to have if we actually find someone… especially if it ends up being a girl."

Sun agreed. Putting their team into a life or death situation would be a new experience for them. Tournament battles were one thing, but losing one of those meant little more than a few bruises and a wounded ego. He tried to consider how his team would function in a combat situation where the stakes were so high. Then the image entered his mind of Scarlet and Sage clinging to the back of an Ursa, as they had the last time they were at Beacon. _Maybe it isn't too late to pick Ruby's dog as my teammate_.

The group did not stop very many times on their long walk. Just after noon, there was a pause for the consumption of some food and water, and to to try to talk Neptune into staying close to the rest of the team. There had been an earlier incident with Scarlet losing his balance and falling off the cliff, only to catch himself with his grappling hook. Fortunately, he pulled himself back up without causing much of a fuss.

During what could be considered their lunch break, Sun and Sage informed the rest of their team, as well as their two senior huntsmen of the final split. Port and Oobleck discussed the decision for a moment, before concluding that it was acceptable. They informed the young men that Professor Port would be leading the first team into Beacon, which included Neptune and Sage. They would be followed by Doctor Oobleck's team, consisting of Sun, Scarlet and Zwei. They would search one building at a time. When Port's team was finished with the first structure, they would turn on a single light in the building on the top floor to signal that they had checked it thoroughly, and that the other team had the green light to move to their first destination.

Using this method, the two teams would alternate covering the approach of the other, then have time to rest while the other team cleared their area. It would take a great deal of time, but the length of their stay on campus would be determined on the fly, which is to say that they would keep searching until they either found something, or became physically incapable of searching any more. For now, all seven of them would stay together. The plan was to make an initial base camp in the woods outside of Beacon, to the north, and wait for dark to make the first approach.

With the high level mission details out of the way, they ended their break, and continued along the cliff side. This time they stayed far enough away that no one fell over the edge, and so that they could enjoy Neptune's company. The talk of their new mini-teams dominated the points of conversation. The Grimm hadn't bothered them to this point, so there was not really much else to do but shoot the breeze.

Neptune started things off, "So, what's our new team name? I'm with Port and Sage. That's a P, an N, and an S. PNS. Pee… En… Ess."

Immediately, Scarlet lost it. His squeaky, high pitched laughter probably could have attracted the attention of the Grimm back in Haven for how loud he was. The other three tried to quiet him down, but it got to the point where they had to stop because he couldn't breathe from laughing so much. No one could understand what was so funny. Then Neptune connected the dots.

"Dude. No. I didn't mean it like that." Neptune recognized that his other two teammates still hadn't figured out what was so funny, so he dropped an obvious hint at the risk of sounding like a pig. "Guys, he made an anatomy joke, like, in really poor taste." Sun groaned in mental agony at the immaturity of his teammates, then proceeded to walk away in the direction of their bewildered leaders. Sage cracked a smile, but otherwise kept himself in check, before helping Scarlet back to his feet.

His face was something resembling purple. Red from the innuendo he had just dropped on his teammates, and blue from the lack of oxygen he was experiencing from laughing so hard. Even in his nearly incapacitated state, Scarlet wasn't finished. "Wait, guys I got it. Change the letters around," he suggested as he suppressed another outburst of laughter. "NPS. Ni...P...Sss," was as far as he got before he fell back to the ground, and literally rolled around in the low grass.

"God dammit Scar. Would you turn six, please?." Sage only hoped that Sun hadn't heard. If he was listening, this may well be the end of Scarlet. For now, he just walked away, leaving Neptune to drag his incapacitated teammate along.

After a few minutes, Scarlet finally stood up on his own, and brought himself alongside Neptune. "That was funny, you're funny."

Neptune was confused, "What? You're the one that made the joke, man."

And now Scarlet was… also confused, "You're having a laugh. You said it first, and you didn't make the connection?"

"No! I'm not juvenile like that. I'm the definition of class," he said with a smile.

Scarlet wanted to laugh some more at the smugness of his teammate's comment, but it hurt to breathe by that time, so he just let it go. A few minutes passed without interaction as they caught up first to Sage, then Sun, who took the opportunity to demand closure to their earlier conversation. "You guys done now? I'm as anxious to beat up on some Grimm as the next guy, but that can probably wait until we get to Beacon. Try to keep it down for now, okay?"

They agreed that things had gotten out of hand earlier, and in a show of solidarity in the presence of two veteran huntsmen, agreed to hold their conversations more quietly moving forward. This pleased Sun, who had taken time to let the joke sink in. "But seriously, Scar, that was pretty funny."

"Oh come off it! I didn't even come up with that, I just laughed," he insisted. "Besides, we didn't even get to come up with our new team name… We've got Oobleck, Sun and Scarlet-"

"And Ruby's dog," Sun reminded him.

Oobleck interjected, having been paying some attention to their conversation, "He has a name. And it is Zwei."

Scarlet did some mental gymnastics then presented his proposal to Sun. "We've got S for Sun, O for Oobleck, S for Scarlet, and Z for Zwei. SOSZ. Like saucy."

"Saucy... how?" Neptune asked. "Like with spaghetti and meatballs?"

"Or more like making saucy jokes about human anatomy," Sage quipped, drawing a laugh from his teammates.

Scarlet hadn't considered either possibility, but having been presented with two explanations for a name he had created off the top of his head, he was quick to take credit for, "Both! Like sauce, we make everything better, and we spice up dull situations with our saucy attitudes. It's perfect. Job done."

Oobleck poked his nose in once more, "How exactly does a dog personify either of those things?"

Neptune prematurely attempted to rush to Scarlet's aid, "Y-know, dogs are like, cute and cuddly, and meatballs are good too... Yeah, I had something there but it's gone now. I just wanted to be able to refer to Scarlet as part of team saucy."

Even professor Port weighed in, "I, for one, am in favor of Team SOSZ," which drew the ire of his colleague. "It's lighthearted, meatballs are delicious, and I, like young Neptune, would like the opportunity to refer to Doctor Oobleck as being part of team saucy." The whole group chuckled at the elder huntsman's summation, except for Oobleck, who was still not pleased with the name.

"So then, Peter, what will we be calling your team?" Oobleck asked.

His response was prompt and well informed. "Ah! Unfortunately there are only three members on my team. The Official Team Naming Convention Handbook states that teams must have four members to warrant a proper name. And before you ask, yes, I am counting Zwei as an official member of your team."

"Very well. But I will have my revenge," Oobleck warned. His foreboding aside, the group continued their journey for the next few hours.

The sun had become low in the sky by the time they reached the treeline of the woods that would be home to their temporary camp. The tower at Beacon, which could be seen through the light foliage, adopted the red glow of the setting sun, serving as a warning that their kind was not welcome there any more. Without communicating their intentions to each other, the whole search party had collectively focused its attention on the menacing structure in the distance, except for Neptune.

"Wait, where did that come from?" Neptune asked.

Interpreting the question literally, Professor Port began to answer without removing his gaze from the tower, "What an interesting question! Well, at the end of the Great War, Beacon Academy was founded as a place to pass on the traditions and skills of-"

Neptune interrupted him, stopping the lecture, "Not that," he said as he turned around and pointed back to Vale, "That!" As the entire group pivoted almost in perfect synchronization, they saw an enormous ship moving slowly into the airspace over the city. They stared at it silently for a moment, before Neptune, who had the most time to observe the ship thus far noted, "It looks like there are words on the side of it… What's it say?"

The setting sun had once again chosen to stand against them in their battle. This time, it protected the identity of the ship using the contrast created by the bright backdrop against the shaded side of the vessel. It was too much for normal human eyes to overcome. Fortunately, Sun did not have normal human eyes. Still, he needed to squint and cast a shadow over his own eyes with his hand to be able to focus on it properly. "It's tough to tell, but it looks like... yeah, it says Schnee Dust Company."

"Wait, how in the world can you see that? I literally have goggles, and you can still see better than me." Neptune grumbled. The answer was obvious, but his mind had now been filled with thoughts of what this meant for Weiss, and the amount of concentration he could muster on any given occasion was reduced significantly.

Sage tilted his head to the side slightly as he responded to Neptune, "Do you listen to yourself sometimes? They're goggles, not binoculars." Then, he recalled their earlier discussion regarding team names. "Don't answer that."

"Although interesting, the presence of that ship does not affect the status of our mission," Oobleck stated forcefully. "I think it would be wise to set up a camp in the woods before dark." A democracy of staggered head nods confirmed that the motion would pass, and they set off towards Beacon once again. Only Neptune lagged behind for a few seconds. He stared worriedly at the ship, before slowly turning to rejoin his comrades.

By the time the light had disappeared from the sky, all seven adventurers were entrenched in a small cluster of trees. From this position, they could observe that the terrain ahead of them was an even mix of wooded areas and large clearings that pushed right up against the edge of the cliff. Further ahead the forests broke, giving way to a long stretch of plains which was home to two winding rivers. The first was wide, much more so than the second. Crossing over to the far bank of the second river would leave them at the edge of the campus. From there they would begin their search.

The first team would not be allowed much of a reprieve before crossing the natural obstacles. Professor Port was ready to go, and so he informed Sage and Neptune that they would depart in five minutes. The sight of the distant water glistening in the young moonlight caused a chill to run down Neptune's spine. Sage had evidently noticed his teammate's discomfort, and so tried to help. "I'll carry you across if you can't make it…"

Neptune just closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Shut up. I've got a plan for those rivers. It's gonna be really sweet."


	28. Rubicon

Chapter 28: Rubicon

Five minutes seemed to pass more quickly, in the moments before the final leg of the trip to Beacon was scheduled to begin, than it had at any point during the day's journey from Vale. The anticipation and anxiety built as the time to depart drew near. For the younger huntsmen in the group, adrenaline acted as a fuel that would hopefully propel them through the final leg of their trip. They didn't know exactly what to expect. Lectures and sparring had prepared them tactically and fundamentally, but the practical application of their skills within the arena of a life or death situation was an a mostly unknown commodity.

Their participation in the Battle of Beacon was a taste of what life as a huntsman could be. Even then, they had fought alongside several other teams. This was the real thing. Actual field work alongside an actual huntsman. It was unfortunate that the circumstances did not allow them to function as a team. They would have been much more comfortable that way, but the presence of two veterans helped to break the aura of unfamiliarity.

Port had been down this road before, both literally and figuratively speaking. This was Beacon. He had spent many years in and around the campus. When he wasn't teaching, he hunted. These woods were not foreign to him. Presently, he had taken up a place at the edge of the tree line, and scoured the terrain ahead of them for any signs of weakness, any advantage he could make use of. For him, the key to combat efficiency was to remain calm, collected, and two steps ahead of his enemy.

From his perspective, he could see that the heaviest concentration of Grimm activity was within the physical boundaries of Beacon, meaning that once they cleared the geographical obstacles on their approach, the fight would properly begin. There were small packs of beowolves roaming the clearing, mixed with the occasional ursa. By Port's estimation, it was nothing that their group wouldn't be able to handle as long as they were smart about it.

As he took note of the areas that could cause them the most trouble, his two teammates appeared behind him. Sage was a picture of concentration. He had drawn his sword, and seemed prepared to take on any challenger. Port gave him his first piece of advice for the night, "Put that away. If we move quickly and quietly, we will not need weapons until after we make it to Beacon. Even then, I would prefer to choose our fights carefully. If we engage in a melee at the wrong time or place, we will be overwhelmed quickly."

Neptune's physical appearance gave the elder huntsman cause for concern. "Neptune. You do understand that there is almost no proper tactical utilization for your goggles at night, don't you?"

He reluctantly lifted the eyewear to their original position just at the base of his hair line. "I just... if I get near the water… Eye protection!"

"That water is literally three feet deep after a heavy rain," Port informed him. "Now? Probably not even two feet."

Sage decided to take the opportunity to pile on, "The offer still stands. I'll carry you across..."

Neptune sighed, stepped out from the cover of the foliage, and began walking towards the school. "Initiative! I like it!" Port proclaimed. He turned back to the other half of the group, looking specifically at Oobleck. A quick downward nod was all he needed to communicate that it was time to go, but his bravado would not allow such a modest show of emotion. Instead, Port laughed almost maniacally, and yelled back to his fellow teacher, "I'll see you on the other side!"

Oobleck watched the first team of three depart from their camp. In truth, it hardly even warranted being called a camp. There was no campfire, no shelter and little natural protection from a Grimm attack, which Oobleck almost assumed would be coming now that his friend had yelled at the top of his lungs in a fit of excitement. He turned to Zwei, who seemed to understand the unnecessarily dangerous situation that they had been put in. "I'm glad he got the attention of all the Grimm in the woods... " He looked around briefly, then decided, "To the trees, then!"

Sun and Scarlet stood a short distance behind Oobleck, and watched as he expertly scaled a medium sized tree, taking up residence on a branch just strong enough to hold his weight. Scarlet shifted his focus back to the mission, "How d'you reckon they'll get to Beacon?"

"They'll be fine. That Port guy's pretty old. You don't get to be that age in his line of work without picking up a few survival skills along the way. Then again, when you get to be that age… uh, yeah, I think he might be crazy." Sun's carefully constructed thought had crashed and burned, but his point was valid. Port had proven himself to be an experienced huntsman, but the question had to be asked if he saw this as a mission, or a game. "Anyway, I'm gonna rest for a bit. You should too. Once they give us the signal, we're next."

"Right… sleep. In the cold, on the ground. Got it," Scarlet muttered to himself.

Sun took a seat on the ground, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. He allowed his unused senses to rest in the background, becoming more at peace with the world around him. After a few minutes, sounds that weren't audible before suddenly revealed themselves. Leaves rustling in the breeze, a shivering teammate, a huntsman taking another gulp of coffee from his thermos, and small dog that wasn't sure what it had done wrong in its life to have reached this point.

Then, there was something else entirely, coming from the trees far behind them. _What do we have here,_ Sun inquired to himself. He didn't move, or give any indication that he had detected anything. Whatever was out there was trying to be very stealthy. It didn't want to be seen or heard, but it was clumsy or out of practice. Either way, he correctly assumed that he was the only one of their group who had the sensory clarity to recognize such a minor incursion.

His eyebrows twitched as the realization hit him. _It can't' be… No... she's not that dumb. At least, I hope she isn't…_ His thoughts immediately retraced his steps all the way back to the night she left. Sun recounted the petty arguing about how ridiculous it was for her to leave. He remembered the time they shared at dinner in the hospital cafeteria, and he remembered the last thing he'd done before she left. He argued with himself internally for several minutes before Scarlet's incessant nagging broke his concentration.

 _Did Scarlet hear it too? There's no way. Even in her condition, she's better than that. Scar's just being a baby._ Whether he actually heard something or not, Sun assured his teammate that there was nothing out there, even though he knew his words were untrue. _Alright, Blake. What's your game?_

A few hundred yards away, the less saucy of the two groups trudged meticulously across the field's unkept, knee high grass. In the time since leaving their cover, Port had gone over basic strategy in the event of an encounter. He recommended the use of non-ballistic weaponry only, in a confrontation with the Grimm. The commotion created by a melee would be much less likely to attract more combatants than the sound of gunfire. As a result, Port was prepared to use his battleaxe, Neptune would deploy his trident, and Sage, his enormous sword.

Despite this preparation, they still made every effort to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, which turned out to be quite tricky in an open field. A single ursa or small pack of beowolves were not much of a problem, and as far as anyone could tell, there was nothing that posed a greater threat than those.

Or rather, there hadn't been anything that posed a greater threat. Port threw a hand signal into the air, then let it fall to his side, realizing that his young companions were not likely to understand it. He turned around to directly address them, but by the time he completed his pivot, Neptune and Sage had already seen it. His orders were simple, "Get down. Now!"

The grass was long enough that when prone, each member of the team was sufficiently hidden from most hostile targets. From the perceived safety of their concealment, Port was able to vocalize his disbelief. "I've never seen anything quite like that…"

He observed what appeared to be a huge flock of griffons forming a black vortex in the sky out of their sheer numbers. It was impossible to discern where they had come from, but they seemed to be circling what remained of Beacon Tower. The sight of so many Grimm in one place had stunned the eldest of the group. The younger members just watched in awe. The only thing that interrupted their exercise in observation was the large shadow cast over them by a Nevermore. As it passed overhead, it temporarily blocked the eerie moonlight that had provided enough illumination to reveal most of the threats on the ground throughout the course of their final approach.

"Uh, guys… That's not normal, right?" Neptune asked with a distinct tremble in his voice.

"I'm afraid not," Port began. "Whatever happened on that campus has obviously created an enormous amount of negative energy to draw such a large Grimm presence." He assumed that the fear created in the wake of the tournament broadcast compounded with the malevolent intentions of the White Fang would do the trick. But, even with his years of experience, Port was not privy to the information shared between Ozpin's closest allies.

Sage tried to introduce reason into the conversation, "I don't mean to be that guy, but this… seems suicidal."

The ever eager Professor Port shook his head before looking back at his two teammates. "This is not a fight. This… is a hunt!" Neptune and Sage exchanged confused expressions. "We're not here to engage overwhelming forces. We're going to make it to that campus, sweep the buildings, one at a time, and move on to the next. Have you ever seen a griffon or a nevermore fight in close quarters? Rest assured, it isn't pretty. And it certainly isn't effective."

"Now, come on! We only have a little more ground to cross before the rivers. After that, the real mission begins." Port stood up abruptly. His comrades tried to will him back down, but it was no use. His resolve was too great.

Neptune groaned, but summoned enough courage to get himself up as well. He marched behind Port across the rest of the clearing. Sage followed suit. The nevermore continued to circle overhead, but never made an attempt to engage them. Neptune was sure that it had seen them, or perhaps it was just his fear of the monster that forced his brain to think he had been spotted. In any case, each time the great bird passed over them, both he and Sage were quick to drop to a crouch. After a few seconds, they returned to an upright position, and resumed their pursuit of their seemingly insane leader. This pattern repeated for nearly half an hour, at which point they had neared the bank of the first river.

As they caught up to Port, this time he had chosen to employ a low crouch. Neptune deduced that it could not have been a comfortable position for him. He didn't look like the most flexible of warriors. His voice seemed to reflect his level of relaxation, as it was strained and at a slightly higher pitch than normal. "It's not far now, boys. We've just got to wade across two rivers… more like streams really… and then we're in."

A completely unsolicited Neptune sprung into action "I told you, I got this. No problem." Before anyone could even make a comment about why he was being so forthright about a situation he was clearly not comfortable being in, he stood up and ran directly towards the river. Neither Port nor Sage had time to argue with him. As he reached the edge of the water, he extended his trident, planted the forked end of it in the ground, and made an attempt to pole vault his way across. His form was quite good, but the soft soil on the near bank of the river gave way has he shifted his weight onto his weapon, sinking it into the ground, and causing Neptune to flail helplessly into the water, halfway across the river.

It was quite a spectacle, and under less dangerous circumstances, might have warranted a near endless stream of laughter. For a moment Neptune sat in the water, allowing his mind to absorb the horror of the situation he had put himself in. His weapon was lodged in the mud a couple dozen feet behind him, and he was surrounded by the thing he feared most, which, all things considered, was not as bad as he remembered it. Until all of the sudden, it was.

His aggressive attempt to ford the river had caught the attention of the Nevermore that had been circling for the last half hour. For the first time since appearing, it screeched loudly at the intruders below, before circling downward, seemingly intent on engaging its new target.

Neptune picked himself up from the seated position he had assumed after haphazardly attempting, and failing, to cross the river. The enormous bird landed on the opposite bank, and screeched at him once more. There was no place for him to hide and his weapon was still several yards behind him, so he began to slowly take strides back towards it trying not to make an abrupt motion that would startle it. The monster matched him step for step. It did not even seem to notice, or care that it was entering the water.

From behind him, he could hear Sage spring into action. His friend's low grunt before leaping high into the air was unmistakable. As Neptune continued his slow retreat, he could feel the artificial breeze generated by Sage's ascent. It was a move he'd used before, at Amity Coliseum… against a Nevermore, ironically. This time was different though. An attempt at decapitation would be foolish. The beast had not been worn down or disoriented by a barrage of attacks from other teams.

When he landed, it was near the base of the tail feathers, sword first. For the time being, he had pinned the Nevermore to the ground, stopping its advance. It let out another screech, this time in some form of irritation or pain, before cocking its head back towards this new foe. Recognizing this, Neptune quickly finished his retreat, and pulled his trident from the mud. In the meantime, Sage realized that he was not of much use without a weapon to defend himself, and quickly moved to increase the distance between himself and the great bird such that he would be out of its reach if it lunged at him.

In all of the chaos, Neptune noticed that Port had taken up a position next to him, apparently intent on engaging in battle with the Nevermore. Seeing this, he melodramatically lowered his goggles and prepared to attack with him. With Sage acting as a distraction, the first strike would be easy, but doing enough damage would prove difficult with just two armed huntsmen. Either way, this was going to happen, so Neptune resigned himself to it.

Then out of nowhere, the Nevermore turned its head back to Vale, becoming disinterested in the three inconveniences it had been preparing to face off against moments prior. It let out a short squawk as it began to flap its great wings. The sword that had stapled it to the ground remained in place, as did a few dozen tail feathers, but the bird itself didn't seem to notice. It gained altitude and circled back toward Beacon, screeching all along the way. For several moments it remained low and out of sight, which was time that the first group used to complete their crossing of the first waterway, and take refuge in the reeds that had grown quite tall in the delta between the two rivers.

Before they could take inventory of what had just happened, the Nevermore flew back over them, this time leading a massive black cloud of griffons toward Vale. Port seemed to understand the situation perfectly, so he stood up again, and called out to the others, "Come on! They're focused on something happening in the city, let's get the hell out of here before they change their mind!" He proceeded to charge off in the direction of the second river.

Being in agreement with Port's assessment, Neptune and Sage moved in pursuit of their leader. The second river was much less daunting to cross, and Neptune's trial by fire experience from attempting to vault the first one had done wonders to help overcome his fear. He was by no means comfortable, but in a life or death situation, he could stomach it.

Without incident or outside interference, they reached the outer edge of the campus within minutes. The angle at which they had approached Beacon meant that their arrival left them standing behind the lecture halls, near a rear door that Neptune assumed was used by faculty. It was locked, as discovered when he tried to turn the handle to open it. This minor inconvenience did not phase him. He was cold, wet and tired, and no lousy door was going to get between him and shelter. With his trident, he speared through the handle, piercing the lock, then kicked the door open.

Neptune turned back to his two companions smugly, only to see Port staring irritably at him, with a key in his hand. "What if you… oh I don't know… consult the rest of your team before making decisions from now on."

Sage took his turn to voice his displeasure with Neptune's sudden rash behavior, "You were almost bird food back there. What you did was brave, considering your issues with water, but stupid. It would have helped if you'd told us what you were planning to do."

"But… did it look cool?" Neptune's query seemed almost desperate, as if it was the only thing he could salvage from his antics over the last hour. Failing to elicit a response, he answered his own question, "It felt cool. Right before it felt really cold. And wet."

Port threw both of his hands in the air in disgust, and stepped past Neptune inside the lecture hall building. Sage just wanted to get to safety before having a conversation about how cool any of them looked. In short order, everyone made it inside the door, and they pulled it closed behind them. Now it was dark, not especially warm, and almost completely quiet.

There was one sound that seemed out of place. From their position it was difficult to pinpoint its origin, but something akin to a faint whimper was coming from somewhere down the hallway. Sage whispered to the others, "It sounds like someone… crying…"


	29. Damsel

Chapter 29: Damsel

Sleep had not come easily to Scarlet that night. It was cold to begin with, and even his mostly decorative jacket did not do much to stop a chill. There had been adequate time to pack the bare necessities before leaving Vale, but without knowing what this mission would entail, there was no way he could have predicted that he would be sleeping on the ground in the forest. Given all of the options in front of him, he had taken to slumping against a tree, which happened to be the same one that Oobleck had been using to observe the other team's attempt to cross the field.

From that vantage point, he could get the gist of what was happening, even as time passed and the men that had left the tree line slowly shrunk into ants. The occasional sip of coffee from his thermos kept him warm, despite being almost totally still otherwise. The scene in front of him was very dull at first. Oobleck might have even dozed off once or twice. The calm and silence of their encampment acted like a sedative, but it really only compounded the fact that he hadn't slept since aiding the first evacuation of Beacon. The caffeine kept him from sleeping, which in his estimation was good… he didn't have time to sleep anyway.

Zwei had initially made several attempts to join his closest personal friend in the tree, but his stubby little legs meant that he didn't have a prayer of making the climb. For a while, he circled the trunk, before settling down a few feet away from it. A few quiet whimpers were the only sound that came from the canine team member before he also drifted to sleep.

Sun had done his best to maintain his meditation, despite the avalanche of worry that followed the discovery of his stalker, and the initial interruptions from an impatient Scarlet. For a time, he had actually found a way to enjoy the peace and quiet, despite having the dangerous prospect of his mission in the back of his mind.

From his tree, Oobleck could see the black vortex form over Beacon Tower. He pushed his glasses further down his nose, almost as if changing the lense through which he saw the world would make them disappear. His powers of observation had not misled him. Although it was a strange phenomena, there was little he or any of his new teammates could do about it from their current distance. There was a small comfort in the knowledge that Port was leading the young huntsmen in the field. He would see it, and... hopefully… know what to do.

That comfort was washed away by the unmistakable flapping of the giant wings of a Nevermore. Its trajectory had it heading straight for Beacon, flying out of the North. Oobleck guessed that it probably came from Forever Fall, which is to say that it had come a long way for something, although he was unsure what that could be. Like Professor Port, Oobleck did not have knowledge of Ozpin's secrets.

Even though it hadn't screeched, or made any noise outside of the flapping of its wings, it was enough to stir both Sun and Zwei. The former opened one eye reluctantly, then the other. He realized that this probably meant the end of his time of relaxation. The latter rose to his feet quickly, growling at the massive bird overhead. Both of them moved to the edge of the woods, keen on observing the new activity at Beacon.

Despite all of his complaining, the only thing that was able to wake Scarlet from his slumber was the shrill shrieking coming from the Nevermore, having now engaged Port's team. He jumped to his feet, suffering immediately from the daze that accompanied such a short, uncomfortable sleep. When he saw that Sun and Zwei were not where he had left them, panic set in. He called out to anyone who would listen, "Guys…?"

From no more than a few feet behind him, Sun responded, "Over here. Keep it down. There's something weird going on at Beacon." For a moment, the three of them stood together, trying to make some sense out of what was going on. From this distance, not even Sun could make out the specifics of what was transpiring with the rest of his team. The Nevermore had clearly landed, but any information beyond that was hidden in the faint moonlight.

The sound of two feet landing heavily on the forest floor behind them startled Scarlet and Sun. Oobleck had decided that it was as good a time as any to descend from his perch, in the least discreet manner possible... jumping. Afterward, he felt bad about scaring the unsuspecting observers below him. "Sorry boys. Even from up in this tree, I can't see what's happening at this distance."

Sun gave what little input he could, "I can still see the Nevermore, but I'm not sure about the others. I thought I saw something jump high into the air… Sage, if I had to guess… but after that, I just can't tell." Oobleck was about to speak, but Sun offered new information, "Okay, so the Nevermore's flying away now. Looks like it's going straight toward Beacon… great."

"Well, that doesn't bode well for the operational safety of our mission. The swarm of who knows what floating above Beacon Tower is one thing, but more Grimm seem to be gathering at the school by the hour," Oobleck reported. As he finished his thought, the screech of the Nevermore in the distance drew Sun's attention back to the source of the sound.

It appeared that the Nevermore had circled back over Beacon with an intent to rally more Grimm to its cause. As Sun explained this to Oobleck, the great black vortex began to change into a more amorphous cloud shape than the cone it had previously maintained. They watched silently as it followed the Nevermore out over the water, heading towards Vale.

The words stumbled out of Oobleck's mouth, "I… do believe that what we just witnessed was some form of leadership … Remarkable." After a moment he produced a logical thought process. "The oldest of the Grimm have shown signs of intelligence, but a Nevermore is much more independent than the others. They do not rely on other Grimm for assistance. It looks like… it has a plan…"

* * *

The air inside the hallway was hazy with smoke and dust. Visibility was limited, but only slightly. Occasionally, the entire building trembled, but it did not seem to be as a result of instability. The sound of Grimm activity in the form of shrieks and roars came from what seemed like everywhere. The particles clouding the air were not particularly bothersome, but Neptune lowered his goggles over his eyes, and looked at Port with a crooked smile. "Boom. Tactical. Utilization."

"I said… almost no proper tactical utilization… I promise you those will do you more harm than good," Port replied irritably, upset that he had been proven wrong by a perfect storm of circumstances. After a few moments of simmering, he returned to his normal, calm demeanor. "Now, we all heard the crying when we came in here. With all of the racket coming from the Grimm, it's going to be impossible to pinpoint its source, so we're going to have to do a room by room search of each individual lecture hall."

"That's going to take forever. We should split up," Neptune suggested. He received a nod of agreement from Sage, who seemed to be spurred on by the prospect of someone being in danger. "Whoever is crying could be hurt. We don't have time to do this one room at a time."

Port knew he was outnumbered, but he voiced his opposition anyway. "I would protest the decision to divide ourselves. This is not the same Beacon you remember from several days ago. The Grimm are everywhere, and whatever the source of that voice is may have been exposed to them. Haphazardly charging into an already dangerous situation would be an unwise choice. But, I suppose as long as we're no more than a rooms away from each other…"

A rush of adrenaline overtook Neptune as he realized that he was mere seconds from the beginning of his first real mission. He staked his claim, "Dibs on the first door on the left."

"I'll take the second on the left," Sage added.

With surprising enthusiasm, Port simply walked to the first door on the right side of the hallway and laughed. "Good! This is my classroom. You've made this easy for me," he said as he swung the heavy wooden double doors open. "Nonetheless, stay vigilant, and if you find something, be sure to call it out. Communication is key. Good luck to both of you." Having completed his parting remarks, he unslung his blunderbuss, and headed inside, leaving only the two young men still in the hallway.

"Good luck Neptune," Sage offered to his friend. He received only a nod that confirmed his understanding of the message in return. Both he and Neptune entered their designated doors at approximately the same time.

Neptune didn't know how to describe his feelings as he entered the single wooden door. _Here goes… Our first real mission. I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared, but I'm definitely both._ As the door swung open, he noticed that it was pitch black. Whatever the area that he was entering was, it didn't have windows. He reached in around the corner, searching for a light switch or anything that would make his search easier. When his fingers grazed the switch, he quickly flipped it on, revealing that this first room was a small teacher's lounge, devoid of life. _Well. This is… disappointing_ , he lamented. Despite the fact that he could clearly see that no one was in the room, he did his due diligence, and headed inside to take a look around.

The room that Sage had chosen to search turned out to be the reverse of Professor Port's room. The double doors that he entered through opened up into a large lecture hall, with tables formed in a semicircle along stairs descending down into a sort of pit, where a teacher would be speaking during a normal class. The first thing to catch his eye in the room, other than its design, was the young girl kneeling at the bottom of the stairs, crying. She appeared to be no more than six or seven years old, and she knelt facing away from the place that Sage currently stood.

Even though she was obscured somewhat by the smog that lingered in the air inside the building, Sage could tell that she had dark hair, although he was unsure of its exact color. She wore a grey dress suspended over a light blue top. Her white socks were pulled up, almost to her knees, and a pair of black dress shoes completed her wardrobe.

It seemed odd to him that such a young girl would be on the campus for any reason, and especially now that the Grimm infestation had reached a new zenith. He took several steps into the room, but the girl didn't notice. She continued her sniffling and crying. After a few more steps without being noticed, Sage called out to her. "Hey, are you alright?" She whipped her head around in shock, before backing away from him. "Do you need help?" Still, she backed away. He began to make his way down the stairs towards her, until she began to whimper and cling to the lectern in the center of the floor, seemingly out of fear. Sage tried to comfort her, "It's alright, I'm here to help you. I can take you out of this place and to safety."

"Who are you talking to?" Neptune's voice called out from behind him. Sage turned around quickly, surprised to see his teammate so soon.

Sage motioned with his arm toward the lectern where the girl had crawled to. "I found this little girl crying… she seems scared of me though. Maybe you can try to-"

"Uh, I think you might need to get some rest, man. There's no one in here except you and me," Neptune declared.

His teammate raised an eyebrow and turned around to find that, to his amazement, it was true, there was no one in the room. "Wh- wait… what? I know I saw a little girl in here. She had dark hair, and she wore a grey dress. Couldn't have been more than six or seven years old." Before he continued to try to pointlessly explain the apparition any further, Sage quickly made his way down to the ground level, and began to look in every conceivable hiding place. He found nothing. After a few moments of utterly racking his brain in an attempt to make sense of what he had or had not seen, he threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "I don't know Nep. There was a girl here. I swear to you."

Neptune didn't want to seem dismissive, but he had very clearly seen his teammate speaking to no one as he entered the room. "Okay. No, I believe you. I'm just saying, I didn't see anyone."

As Sage attempted to wrap his head around what was happening, he realized that he had been separated from Neptune for mere minutes before he reappeared. He also noticed that his friend was carrying a new piece of hardware with him. "Wait, how did you search your room so fast… and why in the world are you holding that?"

"It was just a lounge. Or a break room. I don't know. Either way, it was a really small area to search." As if he'd forgotten, Neptune looked down at his hand to the umbrella he had found. "Oh, this? It was in the other room. It's more like a parasol, if you ask me. And I have it because I thought it would make a really nice gift for-"

"For Weiss, yeah got it. You're going to give someone's umbrella… sorry… parasol to Weiss as a gift. How romantic..." Sage wanted to make a point to Neptune about the moral conundrum of giving something that didn't belong to him away as a gift, but he didn't get a chance before a shot rang out from the hallway. They quickly exchanged surprised looks, before Neptune darted off towards the double doors, leaving his newly found treasure on a desk near the bottom of the stairs. Sage followed.

Before they made it even a few steps up, two more shots echoed from outside of the lecture hall. They assumed that Port must have been the source of the commotion, but the fact that there was gunfire at all was a reason for concern. Their leader would not resort to that without just cause. Neptune was the first to reach the top of the stairs. Without stopping, he looked back to be sure that Sage was following, relying on his instincts to guide his body into the hall without incident. And… just like the several times he had acted on instincts in the last few hours, they failed him miserably.

He made it out of the room well enough, but before he could return his gaze to the path in front of him, he experienced what felt like a body crash into him, sending him to the floor in a heap. On the opposite side of the hall was the victim of his recklessness. A girl, who had taken the collision equally as poorly as he had, was on her hands and knees apparently trying to catch her breath.

She had a dark complexion, with neck length, light green colored hair that extended further in two long locks that had presently draped themselves over her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark shade of red. He knew her, but not well. She looked at Neptune, then Sage, who had just entered into the hallway. She seemed to be just as surprised as they were at what had just happened.

By the gasping and shortness of her breaths, it seemed that the wind had been knocked out of her by the suddenness of the collision. Still, she tried to speak, albeit with short, labored, broken sentences. "Sorry… Didn't know… anyone else was… in the building… Heard shots…" She got herself to her feet as quickly as she was able, and offered a hand to help Neptune up. As she did, her normal speech patterns began to return. "I came as fast as I could… I was already in the area… with my teammate. He wandered off… I thought the shots came from him… We've got to check it out..."

Neptune accepted her assistance, and was quickly restored to an upward position. Before he could even introduce himself, she began to pull him off towards what he assumed was the source of the gunshots, and also Professor Port's classroom. "We thought it was our friend too. I'm Neptune, and this is my teammate, Sage. I feel like I've seen you around, but I'm sorry to say I don't remember your name."

The group stopped just outside of the room Port had entered several minutes before. The girl looked back to her two new companions, placing her hands on the grips of her two holstered weapons, and forced out a smile, "Emerald."


	30. Ghost Stories - Part 2

Chapter 30: Ghost Stories - Part 2

 **48 Hours Earlier...**

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Mercury's question was an echo of Emerald's own thoughts. She still held Cinder in her arms in an attempt to keep her from lying on the cold, dirty floor. Her semblance was still actively shrouding Ruby from her partner's view, which made it a bit more difficult to focus on otherwise simple tasks. "I don't know. We have to get off of this tower though. As long as Cinder is in this condition, we can't run the risk of running into that huntsman."

Mercury scoffed at the idea of a cautious approach, "Come on… we can take him, no problem."

"He's probably found the Schnee girl by now," Emerald reminded him, as she glanced at the hooded young huntress that only she could see, "Maybe Ruby too. That's three versus two, and we've got to worry about keeping Cinder safe. I don't like those odds."

The way in which she manipulated her partner was masterful. She saw no reason to kill everything in their path, but Mercury would not hesitate. So Emerald needed to control the odds just a bit. Hiding Ruby from his sight might be enough to convince him that she was still a viable threat lurking somewhere nearby, but he could be such a blockhead sometimes. The only reason she had agreed to come along was to make sure that Cinder was alright and she was, to some degree. Now, it had become a matter of finding a way out of this without being detected. Eventually, they could make their way back to Haven, but she knew that there was no practical way to get there if they had to haul what amounted to little more than a corpse the entire way.

Mercury's response was along the lines that Emerald hoped it would be. "Why can't you let me have any fun?"

"Oh, were we having fun at some point?" She shot back. "I must have missed it in between your psychopathic murder sprees."

He laughed again, something he was prone to doing in even the darkest situations. "Come on, Em! I told you, we're ghosts here. Everyone thinks I went home to be with my… family..." he raised his fingers to make air quotes. "You disappeared into a stadium full of people, and could be anywhere. If anyone finds those guys down in the lobby, they'd think it was a Grimm attack long before they guessed that the innocent victim Mercury used his magical powers to heal his broken leg and come back to take revenge against the civilized world."

"What about Ruby?" Emerald asked him, attempting to further embed some shred of doubt into his mind. "You fought her for crying out loud. Who knows if she's told anyone else about that. We… well… you could be a wanted criminal by now."

As far as he knew, Emerald brought up a good point. The half-pint had escaped his pursuit, although he had allowed it to happen. It wasn't worth the risk of being seen in public to put a beating on her. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a safe bet to lay low for now. A disgruntled sigh indicated his frustration with their predicament. "I hate when you're right. But we still don't have a plan. You wanted to get off of this tower?" He pointed at Cinder, "Well, how do you propose we do that, especially with her being dead weight?"

"I'll get myself down, and I can take Cinder with me. I'll use my blades to dig into the side of the tower and climb down." She sensed what Mercury was thinking and explained her course of actions before he could ask, "We can't go back down the way we came up because of that huntsman. If he climbs back up, that's the way he'll go."

"What about me? I can't dig into the walls like you can."

"Mercury, you practically have rocket boots. I think even you'll be able to figure this one out."

Without a second thought, he realized that she was right. "Good point… See ya at the bottom!" He took a running start, and front flipped off of the back edge of the building into a controlled, feet first dive towards the ground.

Normally, this would have been an alarming course of action that Emerald might have protested for the sake of her partner's safety. But by now, she wanted nothing more than to shut down her semblance. Rare was the occasion that she kept it activated for such a long time, and she was drained from it. She had kept her fatigue hidden well, but the daunting task of carrying her boss down from the tower loomed ahead of her. Her simpleton of a teammate had more or less abandoned her, and there was a veteran huntsman roaming around somewhere, probably looking for the girl in the red hood located a few feet away from her.

She made her way to the edge of the crumbled shell of a building that had previously acted as the headmaster's chambers. During the short walk, she could hear the low rumble of her partner's weapons slowing his descent. As she peered off of the edge, Emerald could see that Mercury had landed on the ground, and was casually kickboxing with some scattered Grimm near the base of the tower.

 _You've got to be strong, Emerald. Now, more than ever._ She did her best to think reassuring thoughts as she unholstered her pistols, and unraveled the chains concealed within them. With the blade portion in hand, she draped Cinder's arms over her own shoulders, and proceeded to secure her by tying the chains around both of them. This would prove to be a test of balance and strength.

The hulking mass of humanity that was Emerald and Cinder walked back to the shattered edge of the building. Emerald dropped to a knee, and dug one of her blades into the floor. Once she was sure that it was lodged well enough to hold their combined weight, she slid both of her legs off of the side of the building, and with a mighty swing, plunged the second blade into the vertical wall. It took a great deal of strength and dexterity to pull the first blade free. _Ok, here we go. Don't look down._

With a sharp jerk, she pulled the second blade free, and began to fall. After a second, she jammed both blades back into the side of the tower. The sound of the metal digging and scraping into the smooth stone of the tower was not subtle, at least not from Emerald's perspective. The main advantage was that it would require less endurance than climbing down one hook at a time, and that was worth the hair-raising screech that came along with it. Every few floors, a protruding ledge allowed her to take a break. She did not take much time, but it helped her stay in control of the speed of her drop.

After ten minutes or so, she finally reached a ledge where it became reasonable to jump the rest of the way. She estimated that the ground could not be more than twenty feet below her. As she eyeballed the distance, she took a moment to survey the ground for Mercury, who was standing uncharacteristically still, looking into the sky in the direction of the docks. She wondered why he was of so little use, especially at the moments when she could use his help the most. _It's almost like he's always trying to make my life as difficult as possible,_ she thought.

On the final ledge, she unchained Cinder from her back, and wrapped both chains around her waist in opposite directions so that she wouldn't just unroll and plummet to the ground. Then she took great care to slowly lower her down to the ground. Her arms were throbbing from the level of exertion she had committed to since leaving the top of the tower, but with Mercury staring off into space, Emerald couldn't take the time to rest. Cinder was helplessly lying on the ground, and even though most of the Grimm in the area were keeping their distance, the danger seemed to be very real.

Emerald lept from the overhang she had been on. Her landing was harder than it would have normally been, but her muscles had become weak and sore from her descent. The groan she made was unnecessarily loud, but it helped to emphasize the physical and mental drain she was experiencing. She made quick work of untying her leader, and sitting her up against one of the concrete supports that helped balance Beacon Tower. With that done, she turned her attention back to Mercury, who was still staring into the sky.

She did not shout, but her scathing whisper of a voice was no less abrasive against the sudden stillness of the night. It carried just as much venom as if she had screamed at the top of her lungs. "Mercury! What the hell are you looking at?" He turned his body enough to hold out his hand with only his index finger raised above the rest.

"I'm uh, not sure, honestly… I mean I know what my eyes are seeing, but I have… one or two questions." He finally turned his head to look at Emerald, revealing an utterly bewildered expression. "How much weight do you think an umbrella can hold?"

Emerald's expression changed to match Mercury's. She had no idea what he was alluding to. "I don't… what kind of question is that?."

Mercury took several strides towards Emerald, turned, and stood directly behind her. He pointed with his arm right next to her head, so that she would be able to follow it more precisely. "There. Look. I mean, that's her, right?"

It took a moment for her to see it. The dark made it hard enough to see, and she wasn't sure exactly what to look for in the first place. But when she found it, there was no sense to be made of what she saw. "What… How in the world…" Emerald had no idea what could have caused Mercury to pick the young girl's slight figure drifting lazily through the sky from the direction of the docks. "Neo?"

"Yep… So, that's one question out of the way." They stood silently for a moment, watching the young girl floating down to the ground. After a several seconds, Mercury continued his questioning. "So... what happened to your favorite criminal mastermind? Weren't they supposed to be stealing an army... or an airship armada... or something?"

"Well, she was supposed to break Roman out of the holding cell aboard the ship. Based on what we saw happen to the Atlesian Military, I guess she was successful. I'm sure Neo just couldn't take any more of his incessant snark. I can't blame her, I'd probably jump overboard too." Emerald took a step away from Mercury, now that such a close proximity was not required. "Why don't you go make sure she's okay when she lands. I'll try to take Cinder somewhere safe."

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "Where, exactly, is safe? Have you looked around us?"

She considered the audacity of her partner asking her to pay attention to her surroundings. "Yeah, I know, but the Grimm don't seem to be interested in Cinder. It's almost like she repels them somehow. As far as where… I was thinking of using our room in the guest dorms. Nobody else is even still here, and if they come looking, we just tell them that we were holed up there. When she wakes up, then we'll go from there."

Mercury was not thrilled with the prospect of sitting on his hands, again. For weeks, he had done nothing but wait for Cinder to arrange everything. He had been allowed to entertain himself in various matches throughout the tournament, but only within the confines of the master plan. He was never allowed to put his full ability on display. No one would let him have any fun, as he called it. The entire process was becoming incredibly boring, to the point where his dedication was waivering. "So, we're going to wait. Again..."

"I mean, what else can we do Mercury?"

"I don't know... Emerald. Maybe if our fearless leader would have trusted us with the details of her super secret plan, we wouldn't be standing here twiddling our thumbs. Maybe, we'd be doing something other than watching the silent assassin gracefully float with the breeze." For once, Mercury wasn't being sarcastic. He was legitimately upset that there was no contingency plan.

His genuine emotion was also surprising to Emerald, who returned fire as best as she was able, "Don't talk about her that way! You don't seriously believe that she intended for any of this to happen, do you?"

"No, Em, I'm not stupid. But I can't even count how many times Cinder just sent us to our rooms, with no indication of what our next move was going to be. She didn't tell us anything! How am I supposed to know what to do? This is a master plan with no master."

Their argument served as a soundtrack to Emerald's short walk to Cinder, having given up trying to use reason on her hopelessly childish teammate. She lifted her leader over her own shoulder, and began walking towards the guest dormitory. As Mercury finished up his most recent diatribe, their attention was drawn to Neopolitan, who had finally touched down a good distance away from them. She immediately dropped to her knees. The thousand yard stare was visible in her eyes from the mere hundred yards away that Emerald was in relation to her.

Since she had nothing more to say to Mercury, Emerald began her march toward the guest building on the eastern edge of the campus. She could only hope that her partner would be more delicate with Neo. It was probably in his best interest to do so anyway.

As it turned out, she was half right. Mercury slowly made the walk across the campus to where Neo was. She was distraught at something, and he was unsure how to handle her. He was not the most comforting person in the world, not by a long shot. Instead, he tried a more witty approach, "So… what'd you do with Roman?" which failed miserably.

She broke free of her blank stare, and snapped to her feet. Despite being more than an entire foot shorter than Mercury, her glare actually startled him.

"What…? Did you leave him on the ship or something?"

He didn't see it happen. His focus had been on her eyes, trying to decipher the source of her angst. Mercury heard a click, and a sound that he could only describe as a sword being unsheathed. Then, he felt it pierce his foot. It didn't hurt him physically, only what was left of his pride was wounded.

There was no wry smile as Neo proceeded to walk right past him, apparently in the same direction Emerald had gone. She left her umbrella lodged in his prosthetic foot, without saying a word. It was her style. "Yeah, nice to see you too," was Mercury's only response to her outburst. His words were directed toward no one in particular, since he was the only one still standing in the clearing. He pulled the umbrella from his foot, and walked off in another direction entirely, muttering to himself the whole way.


	31. Opposites Attract

**Author's Note**

First of all, thanks for reading! I'd like to start this chapter off by apologizing for not keeping up with my usual pace of updates. I'm kind of a huge hockey fan, and the NHL Playoffs have started, which absorbs most of my time (Let's Go Pens!) I'm also kind of a huge Destiny fan on the XB1 side, and the most recent update has given everyone new reasons to play. Then, there's work, and all of the usual stuff that requires most of my attention. This is kind of a long chapter, but I want to get this part of the backstory out of the way so that I can continue my main narrative. So without further ado...

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Chapter 31: Opposites Attract

Mercury spent the night alone. After his less than pleasant interaction with Neopolitan, he had stormed off towards the building that was home to all of the lecture halls and choice was not made for any reason in particular, other than that it was far away from the rest of his partners in crime. For a moment, he considered walking right past it and off of the campus entirely. But as he stood at the edge of the river that served as a natural boundary, he thought better of it.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that he had a tendency to overstep his bounds, and that doing so could make him more of a liability than an asset. On top of that, his willingness to do more than what was asked of him clashed with Emerald's desire to do exactly what was asked of her, and often put him at odds with both of his female colleagues. If he was honest with himself, he was at odds with everyone, most of the time. It was not a desirable situation by any means, but it was the only lot he had left in life.

When he first met Cinder and Emerald, he had nothing left. His father lay face down in the dirt on the side of the road, and his home was engulfed in flames. Now that he thought about it, Emerald never had been fond of him. Behind his back, she always questioned why his services were necessary, despite the risk of incurring the scorn of Cinder. To his face, she had called him a psychopathic murderer, which he might have agreed with if it wasn't part of his job to be excessively violent. A murderer, sure. A psychopath… debatable. He was, after all, the son of an assassin. Cold blood ran in the family.

As he continued contemplating just leaving everything behind, he thought back to the way he had seen Cinder lead them. She knew so much about the world that no normal person would have any reason to know. Mercury had always assumed that there was someone above her in the chain of command. There had to be, and the thought of this person was one of the only things that kept him from making his own fate.

Since he first met Cinder, she had given him nothing but opportunities to prove himself, which he could only assume he had done. It was mutually beneficial, like most of the arrangements she had with her allies. His biggest grievance with her leadership was that she only informed her subordinates of the bare essential details of their mission. The grand strategy always remained a great secret, as did the means to arrive at their final goal.

He hated having to throw his match against Yang. When she activated her semblance, the smile on his face was enough to convey his utter disgust with having to intentionally lose a fight he could have won with his eyes closed by that point. He knew not to turn his back on her until he heard the final buzzer, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have. Everything was done in accordance with the plan.

And just like the rest of Cinder's plans, Mercury wasn't privy to all of the details. When Yang turned back towards him after her victory, he never expected her to fire her gauntlet into his leg. Sure, it was a prosthetic, but the pain he felt was very real. The only illusion was of damaged flesh. It was just another tiny thing that she forgot to mention to him before sending him into the field.

The same misconception had lead them into their current predicament. Cinder's insistence on only telling him what he needed to know left them without direction. There were no backup plans. There was no delegation in their chain of command. The bright flash of light must have had something to do with Cinder's current state, and as long as she was out of commission, so was the plan.

Mercury sighed as he looked out over the two narrow rivers that flowed a short distance ahead of him. He knew that he wasn't going anywhere, even though he wanted to. For now, he turned back towards the main lecture building, and began walking towards an access door on the side of the structure that faced away from the campus. It was unlocked, so he decided to go in. As he passed through the doorway, he realized that he was still holding the umbrella that had previously speared his foot. He had just one question for himself, _Why does everybody go after my legs?_

His interactions with Neopolitan had been very limited in the past. She was a friend of... well... Roman did not count as a friend. She was more like an associate of an associate… or maybe an associate of an ass. Either way, her normally quiet demeanor was only trumped by her all business, all the time work ethic. The way she had reacted to Mercury's remarks, which were admittedly in poor taste, was very unlike anything she had done before. He could only assume that whatever happened to her to separate her from Roman must have deeply affected her.

In any case, he decided that he did not owe her any favors based on her recent behavior. Mercury opened the first door he saw once inside, which was the first on his left and read 'Break Room'. A quick flick of his arm saw him toss her umbrella inside. It was done mostly out of spite, but also because she was very unpredictable, and as far as he was concerned, not entirely trustworthy.

By this time, Mercury knew that he would not be leaving the campus, but he still had no desire to be with his allies. He was angry with them… with a lot of things, actually. He had gone over most of them in his head by now. Since he had settled on staying around, he decided to lock the door that he had used to enter. With that done, he decided to make his way to the roof. The dark corridors and lecture halls were very dull. At least from outside, he could observe the chaos engulfing Beacon. The journey took a few minutes, mostly due to the fact that he was not entirely familiar with the arrangement of the building.

As he finally opened the door that would grant him access to the roof, Mercury heard a commotion coming from the main courtyard. He quickly made his way to the edge of the building, where he had a view from several stories off of the ground. He saw the same huntsman that had barely escaped him earlier that night. He was with the heiress, who had also managed to escape. The thought of being zero for two, with regard to targets eliminated that night, was deeply upsetting. The other thing that was mildly distressing was the fact that the huntsman was carrying Ruby, and she seemed to be badly hurt, or otherwise unconscious.

He tried to consider how that was even possible. Sure, there were a lot of Grimm around, but she was definitely fast enough to evade them if she wasn't capable of destroying them outright. The entire situation seemed strange to him, but there was nothing he could do at this stage, so he just continued to watch. The trio made their way to the ship that waited for them a safe distance from Beacon Tower, climbed aboard, and flew off toward Vale. As he watched them go, Mercury felt a certain satisfaction for the first time since arriving at the school.

He had won... They… had won. Whether or not he knew what his next move would be seemed irrelevant. The things he had been asked to do, and subsequently done, had lead to he and his allies emerging victorious. It was something he had not considered until right now, as he saw his foes retreat from the place they had previously called home. This revelation brought a smile to his face. It also marked the departure of the last human threat to his own well being. As such, Mercury decided to slump down inside the structure that housed the staircase which he had used to access the roof, and drift off to sleep.

On the opposite side of Beacon, Emerald, Neo and Cinder occupied the same dormitory that they had used for the previous weeks leading up to the Vytal Festival Tournament. Despite the fact that there were three of them, one was unconscious, one sulked silently on a bed, and the last one was not exactly sure what their next move should be. Could she leave Neo alone with Cinder to go look for their renegade teammate? Was it worth looking for Mercury at all? Was he even still on the campus?

Emerald had tried to establish some sort of communication with Neo during their short journey back to the room. Normally, the chances of squeezing a word out of her were slim, but in her current state of disconnect from the outside world, it was impossible. At first, Emerald tried to console her using conventional methods, but without knowing exactly what the source of her distress was, it proved pointless. So, they sat quietly for a time.

The window in their room did not overlook the courtyard that Mercury had observed, but the audible rumble of an airship lifting off could still be heard. It was the last major event of the night at Beacon, and it meant that now they were alone... or at least Emerald assumed as much when she decided to close her eyes for a short time. The last thing she remembered before falling into a light sleep was telling Neo to keep an eye on Cinder, and to wake her if there was any change in her status.

She awoke many hours later to a combination of bright lights and tremors that seemed to shake everything. After a split second of waiting for her brain to begin to process the data that had been suspended by her sleep, Emerald nearly shot out of her lying position on the bed. She ran through the checklist of things that were of at least some modicum of importance to her. _Cinder_ … was still asleep, right where she had been. _Neo…_ had moved, but only as far as the window. The same hauntingly blank expression seemed to consume her.

 _Mercury_ … had not come back. Emerald considered her own disposition with respect to him. Despite their disagreements during the course of the night, she still assumed that he would return. Rightly or wrongly, her natural instincts told her that Mercury did not serve any real purpose in Vale on his own. What place did he have if not fighting alongside his team? He was more than capable of striking out on his own and surviving, but to what end? He was a rebel without a cause.

Based on the angle of the light coming into the room, Emerald assumed it was some time in the mid to late afternoon, meaning that she had slept much longer than originally intended. It didn't bother her, considering that nothing about the situation had changed. She wasn't sure what to make of the intermittent rumbling, though.

Back on the other side of the campus, neither was Mercury. He had been awoken by the same tremors. His sleep had been significantly less restful, considering that he had chosen to take up residence in a stairway, leaned against a wall. His back ached from it, and climbing to his feet was a less than pleasant undertaking. When he finally got himself upright, he came to the realization that he had no idea how long he had slept. In his hazy state of mind, he fumbled with his hands trying to find the handle to the door, which he eventually did.

Opening it turned out to be another unpleasant experience for him. The blinding sunlight forced him to shield his eyes with his forearm. It was a momentarily disorienting sensation, but after a minute or so he finally built up enough of a tolerance to the brightness that he was able to stumble back out onto the roof, still squinting.

Mercury lowered his forearm, substituting his hand as a makeshift awning to cast a shadow over his eyes while they slowly adjusted to the brightness of this new environment. He still couldn't look directly out into the courtyard, so with his head down, he walked to the same ledge where he had watched his adversaries retreat during the previous night. As he neared the edge of the building, the sun became obscured by something that shaded him completely from its blinding light. He lowered his hand, and looked up for the first time since coming outside.

The Goliath stared at the puny human with a curiosity akin to that of a frog watching a fly. Mercury's mind took a few seconds to process the implications of the elephantine monstrosity in front of him. He simply stood for a moment, while the gravity of the situation began to become apparent to him. "Hmmm…" he grumbled. When it finally clicked in his mind, the massive threat that was posed by the giant Grimm created a sudden desire to be in almost any other geographical location. Without even thinking about it, he turned and began running in the other direction, refusing to grant the Goliath the satisfaction of killing him. All the while, he just kept shouting, "Nope… nope… nope… nope...nope…" Mercury knew that the presence of the massive beast was bad news for him, and he didn't want to look back, for fear that it would smash through the building to come after him.

Fortunately for him, the giant Grimm was intelligent enough to recognize that it was in no danger. Mercury's previous assumption that his makeshift alliance had achieved victory was premature in retrospect. Certain human forces had been driven from Beacon, but in their wake, the Grimm had come. The White Fang had initially been responsible for bringing an assortment of Ursai and Beowolves, mostly in an effort to cause chaos. Now, Grimm of all shapes and sizes had come from far and wide, all drawn by the misery and pain that had befallen so many lives at the school and in the surrounding areas.

He stood as he had before in the dark hallway, now with widened eyes and taking short, nervous breaths. Mercury had slammed the door behind him, and put all of his weight against it, as if his comparatively small mass was enough that the Goliath would even notice. He thought to himself now, in the aftermath of his abrupt wake up call, that he should have been more observant. He and Emerald had both seen all of the Griffons that called Beacon Tower their home. Even the Dragon that was still in some sort of stasis at the top was a cause for some amount of concern. Finally, the arrival of the Goliaths ushered in the largest, most intelligent of the creatures. If there was ever a need to clear the school of Grimm activity, they would make it a massively difficult undertaking.

When he had calmed down enough to think straight, Mercury descended the stairs on his way back down to the ground floor, making every attempt to avoid windows to the outside. It was a subtle acknowledgement to a paranoia that the creatures of Grimm might be watching. He didn't remember ever being scared of them before. They had always operated in small packs or, if their numbers were greater, it was often against a team of his colleagues. In both cases, they were not a major threat. Now the population of Grimm had swelled to the point that they were the masters of the campus that many huntsmen and huntresses had once called their home.

Mercury decided that it was in his best interest to bide his time. He knew that at some point, he would need to link up with Emerald and Cinder again. His mind hadn't been made up about Neo just yet. She had damaged one of his absurdly complex, and not to mention expensive, robotic legs. It wasn't safe to be alone any more, but at the same time, too risky to be moving around outside in broad daylight. His reunion would have to wait until dusk. For now, and at least until dark, he would continue to lay low.

Since there were still several hours before nightfall, he decided to try to scavenge for some food. It had been quite some time since the last time he had eaten anything substantial. Although he did not expect a full course meal to be prepared for him, he did remember seeing a break room somewhere near where he entered the building. If he was lucky, maybe some poor soul would have left their lunch in the refrigerator during the expedited retreat from Beacon. He decided that it was worth a shot, and headed off in that direction.

The building was not nearly as deserted as he remembered. Around every corner, in every hall, the Grimm lurked. He couldn't discern their intentions, but he did not need to. Whether he was looking for food or a fight, they were there. If something noticed him, he was quick to engage and destroy it as quietly as he could manage. It seemed as though only the smaller creatures had taken to moving indoors. Mercury hadn't seen anything larger than a Creep, the awkward, two legged monsters that were quite fast, but lacked agility. For someone like him, who prided himself in his fleet footedness, these were easy prey.

Mercury did, occasionally pass some windows to the outside, at which points he allowed himself a moment to indulge his curiosity about the Grimm infestation. He saw that there were several Goliaths now. Even considering the conflux of negativity that Beacon had become, it was surprising to see even one of them near a man made settlement, much less several. Packs of many other species of Grimm had also assembled, and seemed to be wandering aimlessly at present. Although their presence seemed very deliberate, their purpose did not. Having gotten a glimpse of the hordes, Mercury retreated from the window, and continued along his way toward what he hoped would be supper.

The food that he found would barely have qualified as a snack. His hopes were raised, but quickly dashed when he found a paper bag inside of a refrigerator. Inside were some stalks of celery and carrot sticks. _Great. Vegetables. Just what a growing boy needs._ He wasn't sure what he had hoped to find, but the assortment of legumes would have to satisfy his appetite. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for dark.

Emerald had considered the possibility of using the shroud of darkness to search for her partner. It was tempting, but in her estimation, not entirely necessary. The concentration of Grimm she had seen during the previous night was nothing she couldn't handle on her own, so she assumed the same of Mercury. Unfortunately for her, the fact that she had stayed with Cinder for the entirety of her time spent in their room meant that she had no inkling of the massive buildup of Grimm on the campus. How could she?

The past few hours had been full of self reflection. She was still upset with Mercury, and he had been out of contact for the better part of an entire day. Emerald would not admit that she was worried, but there was an empty feeling inside of her. She wondered, _If Cinder woke up at this exact moment, would she be more vitriolic towards Mercury, or to me... for failing to keep him in line_? The thought began to consume her, until she finally made the decision to go look for him.

After pausing to force herself to leave Cinder behind, she left the relative comfort of her bed, and walked out into the communal area of their dorm room. From one of the desks positioned along the wall, she gathered her weapons, and tucked them into their holsters on her back. It was while she did this that it occurred to her, Neo was nowhere to be found. She had not been in her bed, or even staring blankly out the window in the sleeping quarters. Now, she was not present in the living area either.

This development complicated her decision to go searching for Mercury, because now there was no one to stay behind with Cinder. She paced for several minutes trying to break the chains that bound the two of them so closely. It wasn't long before Emerald decided that with Neo apparently gone, she would need the help of her missing teammate going forward. Whether they stayed at Beacon or not, they would be better off as a group. She managed to convince herself that Cinder would be fine on her own for just a little while.

She opened the door to the hallway, trying to be as efficient as possible in her movements. If she was forced to leave her incapacitated leader alone, Emerald wanted to make sure that it was not for a second longer than it needed to be. When she closed the door behind her, the noise caused it to draw the attention of a small Grimm. She could not recall the proper name for it, and honestly did not care much either. It looked like a boar, and posed little or no threat to her. She drew one of her hand cannons and with a precision that was a testament to her skill with the weapons, ended the creature's miserable existence with a single shot. It felt nice to release some of her pent up aggravation, even on such a meaningless target.

Immediately, she wondered why she used her gun to do it. Although efficient, the sound of the bullet discharging caused more growls and roars to echo from all directions. It was not her intention to draw an army of evil directly to Cinder, so she moved as quickly as she could to the elevators at the end of the hall. They did not seem to be in service, but the staircase was close enough to be a viable alternative. On her way down, she could hear the cries of what seemed to be a substantial number of Grimm, which seemed to be wandering through the building randomly. Their presence was inconsequential to her, as they were not actively trying to obstruct her progress, and she remembered what had happened the last time she engaged one for no real reason.

When she finally arrived at the ground floor, she peered through the narrow rectangular window built into the door. What she saw was far from the walk in the park she had experienced in the staircase. A whole pack of Ursai had congregated near the reception counter. Although increasing numbers of Grimm was not a totally unexpected turn of events, Emerald did recognize that she should use a bit more caution in her encounters. With that in mind, she opened the heavy, windowed door just far enough to fit through it, then maintained a steady grip on it to make sure that it closed as quietly as possible.

From her new position in the lobby, Emerald was able to more accurately survey the room. The Ursai were gathered near the center of the width of the room, towards the back of the building. They weren't moving much, but every so often, one would separate from the pack for what seemed like no reason at all. She played the situation very patiently, waiting until their attention was turned in another direction before darting from cover to cover. She used everything from couches to large plants to decorative support beams. For as much trouble as this escape had become for her, Emerald began to wonder why she had not chosen to rappel down the side of the building.

When she was finally close enough to the entrance to sneak through the double doors leading outside, she was very careful to wait for just the right moment to make her move. There was nothing to conceal her once she committed to leaving the last piece of cover. Conveniently for her, there was a half empty cup of coffee on an end table near where she was hidden. It would make a good distraction. She lifted it, and proceeded to slowly dump the coffee into one of the plants.

She quickly peered out of her hiding place, finding that there was no immediate threat of detection. Emerald threw the ceramic mug as far into the opposite corner of the room as she could. Its flight time seemed like it lasted for an eternity, which was convenient because it gave her time to consider that when it hit the ground, she would have no choice but to make a move.

The shattering sound created by the mug's impact on the floor caused the pack to snap their heads towards the origin of the sound. Two of them immediately ran in that direction, expecting a fight. Emerald observed this while in transit to the supposed safety of the exit. She turned her head away from the Ursai long enough to find the handle to the door, and pull it open. It did not squeak, or make any other unanticipated sounds, so she quickly checked on the Grimm behind her, making sure that they had not noticed. They hadn't.

When she turned back to the exit, she was shocked to see that she now stood face to face with a Beowolf. Emerald knew that they were prone to howling, and that she had no more than a few seconds to either eliminate it, or face a pack of Ursai, along with an incalculable number of other Grimm that would be drawn by the sound. It must have been just as surprised to see her as she was to see it. For a moment, there was an abbreviated staring contest, but In a flash, she reached for both pistols, using her foot to hold the door to prevent the it from slamming behind her. She shifted her weapons into their blade form, and in a blur of motion, Emerald cut right through the creature's neck.

As she watched the beast die, her immediate reaction was to be very happy with the way the encounter had gone, considering its abrupt nature. The Beowolf began to turn to a black dust, but before being completely vanquished, it defiantly forced a short yelp from its mouth. All of the elation that stemmed from her previous successes was ripped away, and replaced with the sudden, unshakable feeling that she was now the center of attention for a few dozen feet in all directions. The growls from behind her confirmed her suspicions.

A quick look over her shoulder confirmed that at least one Ursa had heard the final cry of its comrade. With the few seconds that she had, Emerald surveyed the area outside. She was met with the same horrors that Mercury had observed earlier in the day. Goliaths. Several of them. And hundreds of smaller Grimm scattered in and around every building in every direction. And now, a significant number of them had been alerted to her presence.

Rolling her eyes in disgust was not enough to convey her true feelings for the predicament she was now faced with. The time for stealth had passed, and she would now need to rely on her speed, experience and reflexes to see her through the hordes of Grimm. Without knowing exactly where Mercury had gone, she could only assume that based on the general direction she had seen him walking, he must be somewhere on the northern edge of the campus. _There's no way he would have been stupid enough to go back inside the tower, not while that huntsman was still in there…_ Unfortunately, the dormitory buildings were all located on the southern side of Beacon Tower. She would need to cross the entire courtyard which, all things considered, would be quite the endeavor.

She took off into a full sprint. With her cover blown, it no longer made any difference what noticed her. The Goliaths and Ursai would likely be too slow to catch her, and she hoped that the Grimm fast enough to try would not take well to the harassment of small arms fire that she could unleash on them.

The courtyard turned into a flurry of activity as the Grimm began to give chase to a girl alone in a place that was no longer welcoming to her. Emerald had been correct to assume that the Goliaths would not be able to catch her, if only because they were smart enough to know not to even bother trying. The average Ursa, not so much. Several of them attempted to follow her, but the acrobatics she was able to demonstrate easily broke the pursuit. Towards the center of the courtyard, she lept between the columns and trees to add an element of unpredictability to her movement.

Everything was going much better than expected for her. She had cleared the center of the courtyard, and now headed for the closest building she could reach, which was home to all of the classrooms and lecture halls. She smiled, content with her elusive prowess. A quick peek over her shoulder was enough to confirm that the Grimm were not keeping up with her well at all. It was also enough to take her eyes off of the path in front of her.

It felt like she was hit by a truck. A large, feathery, winged truck with talons. Whether she temporarily blacked out, or simply did not remember the time between the impact and hitting the ground, she now found herself on her side, all of her senses blurred. Emerald was dazed, and therefore slow to swing her head around to see what she had hit. Her instincts kicked in as she simultaneously reached for one of her pistols and identified a Griffon as the guilty party in her collision. She knew that she had to get back to her feet, or risk being overrun by the Grimm that were very likely to be closing in on her quickly from behind.

Propping herself up on one arm, she used the other to take a haphazard shot at the Griffon, which missed wildly. She attempted to follow her shot with a quick roll away from her opponent, back to an upright position. It worked, but she was off balance somehow, despite her feet being firmly planted on the ground. Emerald decided it was irrelevant, and drew her other pistol. She opened fire on the Griffon as she ran, or more accurately staggered quickly, toward it.

In a whirlwind of feathers and dust, the Griffon evaded most of the bullets, but in doing so moved itself out of Emerald's path, giving her a clear lane to her destination. She tried to concentrate on running and firing, which proved to be problematic in her current state. Her legs felt clunky and foreign to her, and she tripped on her own feet no more than a few steps from the relative safety of the entrance to the lecture halls. Her disgust with her poor performance was palpable, and also audible, as she released her frustration by shouting, "Dammit!"

She double checked the distance to the door, and attempted once more to rise to her feet, while evaluating the status of the convoy of evil behind her. She made it as far as one knee. Before she could inspect her pursuers, a claw blasted her midsection, sending her flying towards the building. Evidently, they had caught up to her. The good news was that she had been flung half of the distance toward her goal by an Alpha Beowolf. Coincidentally, that was also the bad news.

From her back, Emerald tried to land a few shots on this new threat. Only one of her weapons responded with actual gunfire. The other simply clicked. She was not counting, but either three or four shots later, the first pistol joined the second in a mechanical cacophony that did nothing but force her to draw her blades. A few of the rounds she had fired did connect with the Alpha, which simply shrugged off the light damage it had sustained. In short order, it was joined by the rest of its pack.

Once more, Emerald forced herself back to her feet, a task that she completed successfully this time. Slowly, she took one step at a time away from the pack of Beowolves that was no more than ten feet away, being careful not to break eye contact. It was effective to the point that the Alpha must have considered her a worthy opponent. An unfortunate side effect was the lack of situational awareness that a staring contest created. A Griffon with several bullet holes in it swooped down from her left. She was aware enough to detect it just in time to roll under the diving attack, which created an opening that the Alpha exploited.

At the conclusion of her evasive roll, Emerald was met with another claw. This time, she was able to parry it somewhat successfully with her blade. A loud roar indicated that she had apparently wounded the paw of her attacker. A second, more reckless claw followed from the other side, as the Alpha slashed at her aggressively. Her second attempt to block failed mostly due to her partial disorientation, forcing her to absorb the blow with her shoulder. She shrugged off the pain as much as she could, despite being thrown into the side of the building by this most recent hit.

She lifted her head, and saw the Alpha approaching her, victoriously. Emerald wondered how it had come to this so quickly. She had been in control at every turn up until she left the safety of her dorm building. The concentration of Grimm had grown over the previous day without her knowledge. It was one oversight, something she had not even recognized as a consequence of the events of the last few days, although in hindsight it seemed obvious.

Suddenly, the Alpha stopped in its tracks. Its prey had disappeared. Emerald's semblance bought her enough time to get back to her feet, and desperately slide along the stone wall of the lecture building in search of the door that might give her a chance to escape what seemed like certain death. The other Beowolves did not take long to resume the temporarily suspended assault. Emerald was met with a swipe, this time to her head. She fell to the ground helplessly, putting an end to the illusion that she had created for the most threatening of her assailants.

She could not even see straight after the head trauma she had endured. The sound of weapon fire, then, was puzzling. Several shots rang out from somewhere, but Emerald couldn't tell where. Then suddenly, she was upright again. Everything that was happening was a blur, and almost seemed to be unfolding in slow motion. The dim light that had illuminated the sky over Beacon suddenly faded into total darkness. Still, she was in motion. This sensation persisted for a few minutes until she was laying on something soft.

A familiarly smug voice addressed her in what was the single most relieving moment of her life, "I was wrong, Em. You don't want me. You need me." If she had been able to move, she would have probably slapped him. But all things considered, she probably owed her life to him, so she would have to let it slide, just this once.

Mercury did his best to be nothing less than his normal, sarcastic self. "You look like you need a nice, healthy carrot stick."


	32. Catching Up

Chapter 32: Catching Up

He kicked his feet up on a table designed for eating a meal. It didn't matter. No one would be using it for that purpose any time soon… and technically, he was eating a meal. The distinctive snap of carrots breaking down between his gnashing teeth was evidence enough to prove it. The taste left a lot to be desired, but at least they were fun to eat. Mercury found himself tossing them into the air, and catching them in his mouth. He only choked on one or two of them.

The occasional growls from the Grimm reminded him of the danger of the situation he was in, but did not constitute much of a threat. From inside the building, Mercury was more than capable of handling any attacker in the tight confines of a hallway or classroom. This security was part of the reason that he had made himself at home. The other part was that he needed time to think of some way to deal with Emerald if… when they crossed paths again. Apologizing wasn't really his strong suit, and in his own defense, he had not actually done anything that Cinder wouldn't have allowed him to do anyway. Nonetheless, being at odds with his partner felt strange for him. Being separated after many months of working so closely with her was an unfamiliar feeling.

His uncharacteristically soft, emotion driven thoughts were interrupted by the distant, muffled sound of gunshots. Several, in rapid succession, followed by nothing. He wasted no time getting to his feet, and racing to the door to his claustrophobic hideout. Growls? Sure. He knew the Grimm were everywhere. Gunshots meant people, and people could mean any number of things. Mercury poked his head out into the dark hallway, but did not see anything that could be responsible for gunfire. The Grimm that had previously shown no interest in anything other than randomly patrolling the halls now rushed toward the sound.

With the halls now deserted, Mercury stepped through the doorway, and made his way in the same direction that he had seen the Grimm moving. He was careful to hide behind anything he could find to stay out of sight, in case there was a straggler. As he inspected the path ahead of him, more shots rang out. This time, they were much more clearly defined. It was dark inside, but he could make out a heavy, metal door very similar to the one he had used on the opposite side of the lecture building. Now that he considered it, the whole structure had some degree of symmetry to it.

It was difficult to say where all of the Grimm had gone. This door would almost certainly be the most direct path to the source of the sounds of battle, which now included the telltale squawk of a Griffon. Generally speaking, their intelligence left a lot to be desired. Mercury had no choice but to assume that because there was no direct line of sight, the Grimm had circled around to another exit. In any case, he continued his slow progress.

More shots echoed down the hall, followed by the silence that had almost cyclically come after, every time. The sound of a struggle reached Mercury's ears mere seconds before something slammed into the outside wall of the building, creating a dull _thud_. Whatever was happening outside seemed to be winding down quickly, so he made it his business to intervene. He covered the last few feet required to reach the door with a renewed sense of urgency.

The first thing he saw as he shouldered the door open was a pack of Beowolves, led by an Alpha. His appearance caused a moment of hesitation on the part of the Grimm. When some of them did not acknowledge his presence, he glanced down and to his left to see what could be holding the attention of a mindless monster more than the sight of their own imminent death. As it turned out, the imminent death of their prey was much more interesting to them. Mercury saw Emerald slouched against the stone wall, looking as haggard as he had ever seen her… more like defeated, really.

The time to play the part of an inquisitor would have to wait until later, even though Mercury had more than a few questions about how the circumstances of the scene unfolding in front of him had come to be. Instead of beginning an interrogation, he raised one of his boots, and fired several shots from its heel. His aim was not directed at a particular target, rather an assortment of Grimm and the dirt and grass all around them. His strategy was to disorient them as much as possible, and try to pull Emerald back inside before the hordes could swallow them up. It worked well enough. He was able to keep them at bay long enough to drag her back through the doorway and out of danger.

His retreat from the battlefield was neither subtle nor pretty. Emerald was light, but not exactly what you might call portable. Mercury was able to lift her over his shoulder, but her constant writhing motion made her difficult to carry. With the door closed behind them, Mercury made it a priority to get back to the tiny, isolated room he had stayed in previously. It was not a long walk, he had just completed it in the opposite direction. Of course, his original trip had been done very cautiously. This time, he could not afford to take the same care as before. If he were to be caught, both he and Emerald would be in a tough situation.

The Grimm, even considering the threat that they posed, were somewhat confused by the disappearance of the two humans behind the solid door. Since the direct line of sight had been cut, the creatures resorted to pounding on the door. They had a basic understanding of the fact that their prey still existed behind whatever this barrier was, but without the simple knowledge of the function of a doorknob, scratching and clawing was the most primal course of action for them.

Emerald kept creating unintelligible sounds with her mouth as she was carried down the long hallway by her partner. The concussive force that had been unleashed on her head was unlike anything she had experienced in a long time. Her thoughts were being processed just as they always had, but somewhere within her there was a disconnect that refused to allow her the freedom to express them normally.

Her fighting style primarily revolved around confusion and deception. She was skilled in hand to hand combat, but against such an overwhelming opponent, she was at a significant disadvantage. The numbers that she faced also favored the Grimm. If not for that Griffon, she assumed that the Alpha would have been a difficult, but not unbeatable, adversary. This and several other thoughts clouded her mind, before the sensation of movement ceased. For the first time, she stopped trying to force her body to do things that it was presently incapable of doing, which allowed her eyes to have the time they needed to begin to take in her surroundings.

What she saw was a tiny room, barely illuminated by the single light panel on the ceiling. For as much as she could perceive with her hearing, it was quiet, and she now rested on a sofa that was not nearly long enough for her to be truly comfortable. She would have to settle for safe. Mercury stood at the door for a moment, peering down the hall. When he was apparently satisfied with what he saw, he did not waste a moment before reverting back to the horrible, sarcastic monster that he usually resembled.

Emerald was almost positive that the words Mercury was saying were in poor taste. It was something to do with how she needed him. She didn't comprehend exactly what he was saying, but she got enough of the message to know it was facetious. The ridiculous smile that he donned every time he made a sarcastic comment was the best indication of that. No matter how much his snarkiness bothered her, Emerald was comforted by his presence. She allowed herself to close her eyes, and drift to sleep.

Mercury kept a constant watch over his partner in crime, who was in understandably rough shape. Exchanging blows with a Beowolf typically had that effect on a person. Before passing out, Emerald was not in the mood, much less the physical condition to chew on the carrot sticks that Mercury had so generously, in his opinion, offered her.

He had spent some time, after bringing Emerald to the tiny break room on the furthest edge of the building, evaluating her condition. She had very obviously seen better days. Although he didn't see her struggle with his own eyes, but Mercury could tell from the swelling on her face and her somewhat labored breathing that she would need time for her Aura to help her get back to her feet. As far as he could tell, her injuries appeared to be bruises and scratches, which was good news in his estimation. He was neither trained nor prepared to treat an actual life threatening injury.

For the rest of the night, Mercury tried his best to avoid looking too concerned with his slowly crumbling team. At this point, and for that matter any point in his recent past, Emerald was the closest thing he had to a friend. Of course, he could never admit such a thing to her. His callous exterior image would never recover from the damage he would be doing to it. In contrast to his attempts to appear distant emotionally, Mercury didn't sleep that night. He switched off the light in the room, and picked out a nice place to lean against the wall, near the door, where he would stay for the foreseeable future…

...Which turned out to be a lot longer than he expected. By noon, his patience was completely gone. He spent the night wondering what Cinder's condition was, considering that as far as he was aware, she had been left with a girl who never talked. Another point of interest for him was the heavy concentration of Grimm in the main courtyard and around the tower… that had chosen to ignore his presence since he pulled Emerald through that door and closed it. That thought alone had consumed several hours of deep concentration. The Grimm showed the same ferocity that they were infamous for outside, but they seemed to be either disinterested or disheartened by the prospect of a fight with a human within the relatively tight confines of a building. Maybe they were finally beginning to learn a thing or two about survivability, but so far as his current situation was concerned, this development only served to benefit him.

When his patience and cramps had reached their breaking points, Mercury pushed himself away from the wall, and lumbered his way across the room to Emerald. He took long, slow strides, which also served as a sort of stretching exercise. Now, he stood over her. The couch was so small that he wasn't sure whether it was her bruises or the position she had slept in that would cause her more discomfort. _Speaking of her bruises…_ He knelt down and tried to get a good look at her injuries. It was difficult in the almost nonexistent light of the windowless, interior room. They appeared to be in the early stages of healing. The short distance between them allowed Mercury to hear that his partner's breathing had become much more regular. As far as he was concerned, she was going to be fine. And as far as she was concerned, he was way too close.

"Mercury. Personal space, please."

He had not been paying attention to her eyes, which had slowly opened, unbeknownst to him. The sound of her voice startled him, causing him to lurch back. It was the first human sound he had heard since the previous night, and the words that fell out of his mouth were sufficiently jumbled to communicate that. "I- uh- wasn't... you were sleeping and I had to make sure… Wait, shouldn't you be thanking me or something?"

Her head was throbbing, for a plethora of reasons. It felt like she had gotten too much sleep, not to mention too much blunt force applied to her. Understandably, this left her easily irritated. "I'll warm up to that. Right now, I'm getting off of this sofa before it finishes crumpling my spine."

Mercury stood up, but did not immediately give her the space she requested. "Do you uh, need any help with that?"

Emerald looked like she had seen a ghost. _Is my semblance in effect right now?_ "Who are you? Where's Mercury?"

"Ha. Ha. That's funny. You're a regular comedian Em... I'm just saying... take it easy, you really got the dust beat outta ya."

She only partially heeded his warning, choosing to sit up in lieu of standing. It turned out to be a good choice when she immediately slumped forward a bit, and rested her head in one hand, supported against her knee. She let out a long groan, then sat silently for a half of a minute or so. "How long was I out?"

"I don't know what time it was last night when you had your… issues… It's a little after noon now. So… like... sixteen hours, give or take… Are you sure you're alr-"

"I feel like I got hit by a truck." Emerald's statements were concise and to the point, because they had to be. Sound caused her headache to flare up, but she wanted answers, so she was doing her best to endure it.

"To be fair, you looked like you got hit by a truck-" Emerald jumped up from the seemingly harmless position she had been slumped in. Apparently, she had not taken kindly to his assessment of her appearance, and her growling caused Mercury to flinch. "I said look-ed! You look… present tense... a lot better now! You have got to settle-"

His reflexes kicked in, yet again. This time, he had to catch Emerald as she lost her balance and fell directly into him. She remained alert, but not quite ready to be so active. For a few seconds, Mercury stood with Emerald in a half-embrace, half-crutch sort of scenario. It created an awkward, but not entirely unexpected silence, which was eventually broken by the female half of the team.

"So… about that thanks... Thanks. I don't even know if I would be in this… uncharacteristic, personal-space-violating situation if you hadn't shown up when you did." She sounded sincere, and she wasn't trying to cause physical harm in any way, so Mercury assumed that her gratitude was genuine.

Before she could say anything else, Mercury decided that she needed to return to a resting position, so he carefully helped her back down to a sitting position on the couch. Having completed that, he took a seat beside her, and allowed Emerald to continue her thought.

"But here's the thing… You really piss me off. Like a lot. You never want to play by the rules, or even acknowledge that there _are_ any rules. Any time someone calls you on it, you have some stupid response… some kind of excuse for why you're right and the world's wrong. I hate you for that." She paused long enough to make eye contact with her partner. Emerald had to make sure that the things she was saying were registering with him.

They were. Mercury was somewhere between shocked and angry with this assessment of his character. It wasn't at all what he had been expecting, so he tried to let her know. "Wh- Wait a minute! I save you and this is the thanks I g-"

"Stop," Emerald instructed him. "I'm not done." She allowed for a few moments of silence, using them to gauge Mercury's patience and state of mind before continuing. "You're stubborn, hotheaded and abrasive. But… you're efficient. You always get the job done, even if I don't like the way you do it. On top of that, there's a good person inside of you somewhere."

He rolled his eyes. "How did you know about my work with children's charities?"

"Wow. Ok. Let's leave the downtrodden children out of this. I know you have a heart of stone, but the people you care about… and I know, whether you want to admit it or not, I'm one of them… You have the good inside of you to look out for them. You could have left me for dead back there. I might have even deserved it. But you didn't. I don't know where you went after we got down from that Tower, but the fact that you're still here proves that you have some kind of attachment to all of this."

Mercury couldn't decide whether to be flattered or flustered. "So… I guess we're cool then?"

"Almost." Emerald hesitated once again, giving her time to adjust to a more serious tone. "Mercury, I don't know if this means I've had the sense knocked out of me, or knocked into me… but I think we have to get off of this campus. It doesn't make sense for us to just sit here and wait for Cinder. Without knowing what her plans were… We've got to take things into our own hands."

Mercury's blinked once. Then once more. He shook his head in disbelief of what he was hearing, while simultaneously preparing himself for the backlash that would likely be unleashed on him after effectively taking the stance of 'I told you so'. "Em, I don't know how to break this to you, but that's _literally_ what I've been saying for days." He let his words float for a few moments, until after receiving no verbal or physical abuse, he felt comfortable continuing. "So-uh, yeah. Let's do exactly that."

"Good," Was the immediate response that Emerald aired between them.

Mercury reciprocated it, "Good… Ya know, I think this might be us turning over a new leaf in our uh, friendship."

"I didn't get hit _that_ hard Mercury. Let's worry about getting out of here first, then we can focus on sharing a plate of spaghetti afterward." The joke she made was not lost on Mercury, who volleyed back with his own dry sense of humor.

He acted as if he wanted to cry, "They grow up… so fast-OW!"

The the physical had violence begun. A quick shot to his arm was all Emerald needed to let him know that they couldn't be quite so loose, given their current predicament. "So I'm gonna rest for a little while longer. If you could find some food-" She saw Mercury open his mouth to speak, "Not. Carrots…" she continued, "somewhere without getting yourself killed, that would go a long way toward helping me get back on my feet faster."

"Too bad, I ate all of the carrot sticks."

"Yeah, too bad."

Mercury smiled. "Alright, well I'll find ya something. Maybe some broccoli or cauliflower or like, some beets... And if you're _really_ good, I'll bring some ranch dip."

"Oh goody! Thanks Dad!" Emerald could trade sarcastic blow for sarcastic blow with Mercury. She always could, most of the time she just chose not to. Right now, she just wanted to get some rest. As Mercury got up from his seated position next to Emerald on the sofa, she took the opportunity to lay down as best as she was able, and close her eyes.

Mercury cracked the door open, and checked the hall for any potential threats. When he saw nothing, he leaned back towards Emerald. "I'll be back as soon as I find something. If you decide to fight an army of Grimm while I'm gone, at least try to win this time."

As he pulled the door closed, the words, "Shut up Mercury," could be heard coming from the room behind him.

He spent the next few hours, which was significantly longer than he expected, searching for food without much success. There were still Grimm inside of the building, which forced Mercury to constantly choose between either fighting or sneaking around. Each time he had to engage, aching muscles reminded him of the exhaustion that was slowly overtaking him. He hadn't slept the previous night, and had rested quite poorly the night before. In between, surviving had sapped most of his energy. Carrot sticks had done little to replenish it.

With regards to his search, everything that he found was now at least two days old. This was acceptable in some cases. A loaf of bread that he found still looked edible, but ended up being unbelievably stale. In his estimation, He probably could have killed a Beowolf with it. A few sandwiches were still on display at a small coffee shop on the second floor, but even they were beginning to gather some mold after sitting out for so long.

After hours of mixed successes, he had gathered an orange, three bags of miniature pretzels and two cans of soda. Having completed the review of his inventory, Mercury found himself watching the sun set over Vale. He cracked open the grape flavored drink, and took a few sips. He hadn't found much time to pay attention to the city while being trapped inside for hours, sometimes days at a time. But now that there was a peaceful moment, he noticed that there was now a very large ship hovering above it. _Hm. Wonder what that's all about._

Having found something edible that wouldn't spoil any time soon, Mercury pulled a stool from the coffee shop up to the window and just looked out towards the city where, aside from the enormous ship, he could very clearly make out several plumes of smoke. In all likelihood, they were the byproduct of Torchwick's handiwork. _I am NOT looking forward to seeing him again_ , he thought. Another observation was the fact that the Grimm prowled in decreasing concentrations the further away from the center of Beacon that he looked. This meant that the window near where he had taken a seat was a relatively safe place to relax for a little while.

Mercury hoped that his delay in returning to Emerald would allow her to rest more peacefully. With that thought in mind, he resigned himself to stay upstairs until dark. Eventually, he finished his drink, and tossed it in the general direction of a trash can. He missed. _Should've punted it._ He decided that enough time had passed, so he gathered his various assortment of snacks and started walking back toward the staircase when something caught his eye.

Mixed in with the smattering of Grimm outside of the boundary of the school was something not quite as mindless. People… There were actually people moving very slowly, methodically cutting through the scattered packs of Grimm. They seemed to have come from across the clearing, likely the forested area in the distance. _Huntsmen. They have to be… and there's three of them_. _Why would they be coming here? Now?_ They were crossing the field en route to Beacon, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Mercury ducked behind a the counter, but observed the trio of newcomers for a short time.

No matter what their motivations were, he knew that he had to get back to Emerald. If the approaching huntsmen had malicious intentions, she wouldn't stand much of a chance alone. Mercury wasn't in prime fighting condition himself, but at least he could stand. By extension, he could also run, which is what he did, as fast as he could, all the way back to the first floor. He ran right past several small Grimm, even going as far as to shoulder one out of the way. It was blatant recklessness, but caution had quite recently been thrown to the wind.

He threw the door to the tiny room Emerald was staying in out of the way and flipped on the light. The commotion startled the occupant, who was standing now, without much trouble, over the sofa that had previously been critical to her ability to remain off of the floor. She held a forgotten umbrella in her hands, the same one that Mercury had tossed aside in anger many hours before. He chose to immediately dismiss the sight of it, and calmly began to remove the food that he retrieved from his pockets, and began towards Emerald.

"Where did you find this?" she asked.

Assuming that she meant the food, Mercury responded. "There was a snackbar on the top floor, I didn't think anybody was gonna eat it so I-"

Emerald interrupted him, as she was prone to doing when he began to ramble on about something that was not relevant or interesting to her. "No, Neo's umbrella. Why is it in here?"

Although he had been interrupted, Mercury continued his pace across the room, and more or less forced the food he had gathered into Emerald's possession. If she was going to interrogate him, she was going to eat while she did it. As he passed the snacks to Emerald, her expression changed from inquisitive to grateful. At the same time, however, she still looked at her comrade with an expectation that her original question would be answered. She seemed perfectly content to just wait for a response before beginning her meal.

Mercury's priorities were not focused on something as trivial as an umbrella, no matter who its owner was. "We really don't have time to do this right now, Em. Can you just eat something?"

The thought of a hunger strike hadn't really crossed her mind. Interrogation also wasn't the word she would have chosen to describe the words they were exchanging. Emerald, and most normal people, called it casual conversation. In fact, she had already opened a bag of the mini-pretzels, and popped a few into her mouth. While chewing, she made an attempt to understand where Mercury's change of pace was coming from. "What's the rush? You almost broke down the door on the way in here. I thought we were just resting. Or… at least I was. You... look like hell. Maybe you should be the one taking a nap."

Ideally, Mercury would have laughed ironically at her assessment of his outward appearance. In this case, his expression remained as dry and serious as it had been since entering the room. "I'm fine. For now. But someone's coming. Here. Now."

Her jaw stopped mid-bite. She raised both eyebrows and lowered her head slightly to indicate to Mercury that he should elaborate on the news.

He got the hint. "I-I think they're Huntsmen."

She swallowed the mouthful of pretzels. "They?"

"Mmhmm," Mercury answered. "I saw three. I don't know how much time we have, and they weren't moving fast, but they were definitely headed here."

Emerald wanted to know more things than Mercury could possibly tell her. "What does that mean for us? How should we handle them?"

"Not sure. I don't know who they are, or why they would want to come back to this death trap." Mercury thought for a moment, then his eyes opened wide. "I saw the old Huntsman and the Schnee girl leave campus two nights ago. They had Ruby with them. If she talked, then our cover is blown."

Emerald felt a chill fall over her. She recognized that if Ruby was awake and alert, then that was a misstep that fell squarely on her shoulders. Of course, she had no way of knowing that the hooded red huntress was still, in reality, unconscious in Vale. The possibility, though, meant that it had to be taken into consideration.

"You okay Em?" Mercury's voice snapped her out of the paralyzing guilt that she felt for letting such an important witness off the hook. "You've got that… 'I just saw a ghost' look on your face again."

"Yeah… I'm fine," were the words that she managed to blurt out. She tried to collect herself, and keep from saying or doing something that might tip Mercury off to what she had done atop Beacon Tower. "I was just thinking about what to do, and I think we have to try to hide from them. At least until we figure out who they are, and how much of a threat they pose."

Mercury nodded. "Right, then the first thing we're going to do is get out of here. When I saw them, they were approaching from the woods to the northwest of here. If they come to this building first, there's a pretty good chance that they enter through the door right outside of this room."

Emerald wasn't in a position to argue, so she added her thoughts to the plan. "Let's get upstairs then. From there, maybe we can keep an eye on our visitors without being in their immediate path. If we have to evacuate, we'll be that much closer to the roof access… Not that I have any real desire to go back outside… but at least it's a viable option."

"It's a start," Mercury said. His tone let her know that he was in agreement with her plan. "Let's get out of here." It was as he started towards the door that he remembered the difficulties Emerald had doing simple things like standing, earlier in the day. When he looked back to check on her, Mercury was pleasantly surprised to see that she was able to move fairly nimbly. Everything that they had brought into the room was quickly collected and carried out.

Mercury checked the hall for Grimm activity, then ushered Emerald out of the room. He flipped the lights off, and closed the door, leaving only an umbrella as proof that anyone had been there. He turned back to Emerald, with the intent of leading her to the staircase that would take them up. He found her standing in place, swiveling her head back and forth, as if trying to find something.

"What're you doing? Something wrong?" he asked.

Emerald raised her index finger to her mouth. "Shhh… Don't you hear that?"

He tried to focus, listening for anything that sounded out of place. This proved to be more difficult than he anticipated, given how long it had been since the last time he slept. But there was a sound that didn't belong. Emerald seemed able to detect the exact moment when he heard it. "That sounds like crying. Who's crying?"

Mercury seemed aggravated with the prospect of who he thought it could be. But when Emerald began to follow the sound, he had no choice but to do the same, even though he wasn't particularly fond of what seemed like a colossal waste of time. It didn't take long for her to follow the sound to the next room on their left, heading deeper into the building. Carefully, she leaned into the wooden double door, revealing a large lecture hall.

"Isn't she supposed to be with Cinder?" Mercury asked, having laid eyes on the familiar, two tone girl bawling at the center of the floor.

Emerald bobbled her reply, "Uh, well, I never… actually said that… But we need to help her, she could be hurt… and I mean, we could use her help in a fight if it comes to that..."

"Nope," Mercury answered as he turned away from the doorway he had been standing in. "We had a bit of a disagreement earlier. One thing lead to another, and I end up with a hole in my foot." He looked down at his punctured boot, and Emerald's eyes followed him. "That should answer your question about why I had her umbrella…"

Emerald frowned at him. "There's no way you're some innocent bystander in all of this. What'd you do?"

"All I did was bring up Roman, then she goes ballistic on me." Mercury looked back towards the small room they had inhabited previously. "Tell ya what, I'll get her umbrella, and you can give it to her. But after that, I'm done with her."

A sigh came from down the hall. "You know, you can be a cold hearted-"

She was cut off by the shrill screech of metal piercing metal. Mercury whipped his head around to see three metal blades piercing the door behind him. Without hesitation, he swiftly pushed through the door to his left, which was another classroom. This one was adorned with hunting trophies and an assortment of weapons, all mounted on the walls. He quickly pulled the doors closed,, and hid himself just inside of them, so that if one was opened, he would be hidden behind it.

Emerald followed much the same protocol, except that instead of entering her classroom, she pulled the door closed, and retreated further down the hall, around the first corner she came to. None of the commotion had phased Neo, which Emerald assumed would become a problem sooner rather than later.

No more than fifteen seconds had passed since the blades interrupted their squabble, but both Emerald and Mercury had hidden themselves. Unfortunately, they were not on the upper floor where they wanted to be, they were not together and there was still the minor issue of their associate remaining detached from reality, crying alone inside a classroom. With Mercury holed up inside of a separate room, Emerald was the only one with a vantage point that allowed her to see down the hall, to the door that had been breached.

She stared intently at the door, as the blades retracted back through the it, and an eerie silence overtook the building again, for a short time. It was broken by the vestige of a door being kicked open, revealing a young man in some sort of overcoat, wearing goggles. Emerald was very careful to avoid poking her head around the wall far enough that she could be seen, but it appeared that the man was talking to someone. A few more moments of observation revealed a second intruder. She knew Port as soon as she saw him. The combination of his voice and silhouette were unmistakable.

After a few seconds of garbled dialogue, a third person entered the hall. Then, the door was shut behind them. Emerald tried to listen to what they were saying. The ambient sounds of Grimm both inside and outside of the building, combined with the muffled whimpers coming from the room between them made comprehension difficult. She was sure that she did hear the words "...split up," which was certainly good news.

She watched intently for a few moments as they discussed something, and then broke off individually. Port was first, and it worried Emerald greatly that he entered the door to the room Mercury had hurriedly retreated into. The one wearing the overcoat went into the break room that had been her home for the last day, and the last member of the squad began to walk toward Neo's room.

 _Just one. One is good. I can handle one._ Emerald hadn't really tried to exert herself in any way since the beginning of her recovery, but in the interest of protecting Neo, she now had no choice. Worse still, using her semblance to hide Neo would rely on her associate doing something to get herself out of danger. In her current state, Emerald couldn't be sure how Neo would react to seeing someone she didn't know.

Emerald projected the image of a crying girl in place of Neo. The replacement was one she had used before. She was much younger, much more innocuous than the person she was hiding. It was the same illusion that she had deceived the Fall Maiden with, months before. It was far from ideal, but on short notice though, it would do.

This was a challenging situation for Emerald. Normally, she would have a direct view of her target, allowing her illusions to act and react more realistically. In this case, she had to simply create a facade to protect Neo, and then cross her fingers and hope that Neo was not only smart, but alert enough to get herself out of her predicament. It was a gamble. Emerald wanted to move closer, to peek into the room, just to be sure that everything was going to plan, but that would leave her exposed in the hall, either one of the other two intruders could reemerge at any moment.

She had almost convinced herself that it was worth the risk, until that exact possibility became a reality. The first of the men she had seen, the one in the overcoat, emerged from the break room. He appeared to have slung his weapon on his back, and was now twirling something else on his hand. He began moving down the hall towards the room that Neo had taken up residence in. As he moved closer, it became clear that the item in his possession was the umbrella from before. Neo's umbrella.

Emerald knew that if Neo was not hidden, she was about to be exposed. Her mind felt foggy and unconditioned, and she was using her semblance on just one target. Attempting two was simply not possible at this time. As the man in the overcoat rounded the corner to join his ally, she stopped her illusion. _Neo, I'm sorry. I just can't. You're on your own now…_

Several brutally long seconds passed. There was not any excessive commotion coming from inside the room, and no sounds of struggle or combat. Emerald could hear talking both before and after the second huntsman entered, so her semblance had apparently done its job, especially considering that both of the voices she could hear had a deeper, masculine tone. She wanted to see what was going on so badly that it almost hurt, and for the second time in the last few minutes, she almost convinced herself that it was worth the risk.

Then, she heard what sounded like a gunshot. The sound seemed to bounce off of everything in the relatively cramped hallway, and echoed down the long, dark corridor. It was difficult to tell, but Emerald's best guess was that it came from Mercury's room. Suddenly, the risks didn't matter any more. She knew he could handle himself in a fight, but the huntsman that entered that room was a seasoned veteran, despite his... portly build. She shook her head at the poor play on words she had just considered, and took off from her place of concealment, moving toward the origin of the sound.

Sprinting turned out to be a harrowing experience for Emerald. Up until this point, she had barely been walking more than a few dozen steps at a time. Moving so quickly, especially in dimly lit hallway felt reckless. Nonetheless, she resigned herself to taking a very quick peek into Neo's room as she darted past it. The weapon fire had been loud and unmistakable. The, at least, two occupants of the room would have certainly heard it as well. At that moment, two more shots rang out in rapid succession, coming from what seemed like the same place as the first. She tried to imagine what her partner could be doing that would require him to open fire on something, but didn't have time to fully consider it.

She approached Neo's room, and swiveled her head to get a quick look inside without breaking stride. As she did, the man in the overcoat emerged from the room in a full sprint as well. His head was turned to look behind him, leaving him with no warning of the imminent collision in front of him. Emerald could not react to the body that was barreling towards her, and before she could think about it, the two collided. Emerald was knocked off of her feet, although by her own admission, it was an outcome that was not overly difficult to achieve, given her current state.

One of the principal points of impact had been her abdomen. This meant that now, on top of being sore and a bit foggy, the breath had been knocked out of her. From her hands and knees, she rifled through a menagerie of thoughts ranging from how to talk to this man, to whether or not she should be prepared to fight him. Emerald decided not to wait for him to say something. She would try to play the part of the damsel in distress. Then, her body reminded her that it was still having trouble breathing.

"Sorry…" she gasped, "Didn't know… anyone else was… in the building… Heard shots…" Considering the trauma of the previous day, Emerald was surprised to find that she was able to pick herself up off of the ground before the, now very clearly, blue haired young man that she had collided with. He simply stared up at her, almost like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Emerald offered her hand to assist him, before continuing her introduction. "I came as fast as I could… I was already in the area… with my teammate. He wandered off… I thought the shots came from him… We've got to check it out…" Having completed her monologue, she could do nothing but hope that his intentions were not malicious. She was relieved when a moment later, he accepted her hand, and returned to his feet. As Emerald pulled him up, she noticed the second man, standing in the doorway. He seemed to be just as surprised as the first at what had happened.

Very quickly, Emerald glanced past the second man, into the room behind him. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Neo casually stroll into frame, and pick her umbrella up from a desk, where it had apparently been left behind in the flurry of activity that lead to the two men to dash out of the room. She did her best to hide her reaction to what she saw in an effort to avoid tipping anyone off to Neo's presence, assuming that it wasn't already common knowledge.

She didn't even take the time to release the blue-haired man's hand from her own before she turned away from him and started back down the hall towards the source of the gunfire. Emerald didn't really care who they were, because for all she knew, they could be engaged in combat with one another depending on what was happening in Mercury's room. "We thought it was our friend too. I'm Neptune, and this is my teammate, Sage. I feel like I've seen you around, but I'm sorry to say I don't remember your name."

She knew who they were. _Team SSSN. Skilled fighters, but not in the class of elite, except for their leader who, fortunately, appears to be absent_. In lieu of some convoluted plan involving fake names and deception, Emerald decided it would be best to find out exactly what was happening with Mercury before saying anything other than what was asked of her.

As the trio approached the door that Mercury, and later Port, had entered, she placed her hands on the grips of her two holstered weapons. She was prepared for just about anything once she entered the room. For now, she just gave the information that had been requested of her, to avoid accruing unnecessary suspicion. "Emerald."


	33. No Time to Explain

Chapter 33: No Time to Explain

Mercury's entry into this unfamiliar, new lecture room had been fairly graceful, considering the abrupt nature of the sudden breach through the exterior door by these unknown huntsmen. It was the horrible screeching sound accompanying the three pointed tips of a trident piercing through a solid metal barrier that caused him to snap into action so quickly. If there had been more time, he probably would have made a break for Emerald, further down the hall. All things considered, he didn't know who was outside, or how much time he had.

Once he crossed the threshold into the classroom, Mercury quickly, but quietly, pushed the door closed behind him. After an abbreviated scan of the area, he found that there was nowhere he could position himself that would give him a tangible advantage against anyone who might follow him in. No corners, closets, or other closed in areas. As he looked around, his attention was constantly drawn to the trophies and weapons adorning the room on mounts all around him. He quietly muttered his distaste for them. "What kind of self-righteous egomaniac keeps this much crap mounted on his walls?"

As he refocused his attention on the tactical realities of his situation, he recognized that his best option was to hide in plain sight. Instead of moving down into the half-bowl shaped room, he stepped to the right, and waited against the wall, just inside of the doorway. If someone were to open it, the door itself would shield him from view.

To him, it seemed like a good plan, which is to say that to someone who hadn't slept in far too long, attempting to hide in what was essentially plain sight seemed like a sound strategy. The worst part, well… one of the worst parts of this turn of events, was not knowing. There was no way to tell if he was being hunted, or if these people were coming for someone else, or if they wanted anything at all. So Mercury stood, silently, just inside of the room and waited.

After a few moments, he heard their voices. They were muted somewhat by the door between Mercury and their source, but audible nonetheless. From the words he could distinguish, the topic of discussion seemed to be whether to split up into groups to search for something. One voice seemed to be much more boisterous than the rest, almost enthusiastic, but yet familiar in its muffled tones. Then there were footsteps, slow and heavy in their cadence, that seemed to be coming nearer.

The door briefly shook as pressure was applied to it from outside, before the handle began to twist, and the doors swung open. Mercury stood motionless, and in absolute silence, waiting for someone to enter. As planned, he was now hidden from view. The footsteps slowly marched into the room, stopping just at the top of the stairs. Another few paces, and a great number of questions would be answered. The seconds passed in agonizingly slow motion. Mercury peaked his head around the door that was now ajar in front of him. Then, things became very clear.

The rotund old man eagerly surveyed the room. He seemed satisfied with the condition of the relics that were mounted on the walls. It was almost as if through all of the misfortune that had befallen Beacon, his greatest concern was his trophies. Mercury couldn't understand it, he hadn't really been much of a collector. He did his job, did it well, and moved on. There was no sport for him. The fact that he injected a certain level of sick pleasure into it was just his way of breaking the monotony of his grunt work, which was typically unpleasant. So if he could manage to get a laugh or two out of it, it was a good day.

With respect to the identity of this new, veteran huntsman entering the room, Mercury could clearly tell that it was Professor Port, despite having yet to see his face. The boisterous enthusiasm in the voice he'd heard earlier, the familiar muffled tones… He knew them. During his standoff in the hallways underneath Amity Coliseum opposite of Ruby, he could hear Port's voice echoing through the halls. This revelation also meant that in front of him stood a man who would most certainly find his presence here to be particularly dubious. After all, Mercury was supposed to be back home with his family, nursing his injured leg. He smiled wryly, _Family… Broken Leg... Right…_

The obvious solution, then, was to attack with perfect timing and precision. A single attack would be enough to leverage an advantage out of this situation, assuming that it was undetected. In his estimation, a quick burst of acceleration followed by a flying kick to the neck or head accompanied by a blast from his gun-boots would take just about anything down. The shot might alert the other members of his group, but Mercury considered the time he would buy himself to escape or hide. Even if that failed, a potential fight would become two versus two, and he'd take those odds. With Emerald nearby, he was confident that there would be no problem in either circumstance.

The formation of Mercury's devious plot was interrupted by Port's jovial humming. _Idiot_ , he thought. _He really doesn't have any idea what's about to happen to him… Oh well, sucks to be you_. With all of the power he could muster into his toes propelling him, Mercury began his charge. The old man's melody left him completely oblivious to the strike. He never sensed his attacker leap into the air. He never saw him extend his leg to deliver the knockout blow.

Mercury's timing was precise, his form was nearly perfect. Everything was going according to plan... until it wasn't. The impact of his boot connecting with Port's head was exactly as he expected it to be. By contrast, the hollow click of his boot's built-in weapon failing to fire was immediately the most horrifying sound he had ever heard. As he recoiled from the kick, Mercury glanced down at his malfunctioning foot, and let out an aggravated growl. Without thinking about it, he had attempted to fire the shot from the leg that had been damaged by Neo's umbrella. He cursed the day that he met that two-toned miscreant.

Regardless of his misfire, the impact sent Port twisting through the air, landing on his back at the bottom of the stairs, on the floor of the classroom. To Mercury, time seemed to stand still. He had to consider if the kick could have been enough, on its own, to do the job. There was almost no sound. It would be an incredible stroke of luck, and just the kind of break he needed to compensate for his previous oversight.

Without missing a beat… and much to the dismay of the young man standing at the top of the stairs, Port sprung to his feet. It was an impressive sight considering his physique, but also disheartening, as it dashed Mercury's hopes of a silent knockout. He looked back up at his young attacker. For a moment the Professor stood in shock, contemplating what had just happened to him. When he settled himself, and took a moment to review the events of the previous thirty seconds, he frowned, unslung his blunderbuss, and leveled it at Mercury. He said one word, ripe with anger. "Explain."

It was in this moment when Mercury recognized that quiet and quick were no longer feasible options. With regards to the demands made by his foe, nothing sarcastic or witty immediately came to mind. There was no contingency plan. There was no turning back. There was, for him, only one option. "I… uh…" He sighed, knowing that a huntsman who could boast several decades of experience stood in front of him. With a shrug, he lobbed a cryptic response to his opponent-to-be, "You're it. No tag backs."

Port lowered his weapon slightly, staring inquisitively toward Mercury. It wasn't much, but it was an opening, which Mercury immediately attempted to exploit, charging his opponent. His plan was to test the old man's resolve, hoping that he didn't have the fortitude to open fire on a "student". Port remained steadfast for as long as he dared, hoping for something, anything that might defuse the situation.

Mercury's weaving approach brought him most of the way towards his target. He began to consider that his bluff, for lack of a better word, would go unanswered. That is, before his window of opportunity closed abruptly. With a single twitch of the finger, Port's weapon unleashed an enormous burst of fire, followed by a projectile, followed by more fire. In an instant, Mercury realized the recklessness of his tactics, but it was too late. There was no time to parry or dodge the blast. When it exploded in his chest, the force altered his course straight back to the direction from which he came, into the staircase. By the time he was able to piece together what had happened, he was lying in a small crater.

The veteran wasted no time in closing the distance to his downed attacker. He steadied his weapon, ready to fire again, should it be necessary. Any sensible person would stay down after absorbing a blast like that. The young man in front of him appeared to be squirming a bit, apparently in no small amount of discomfort. A distinct wince was prominent among Mercury's facial features.

Port had been forced to classify Mercury as an enemy. But he still didn't understand why any of this was happening. Based on the severity of his aggression, he knew that there was not much room for forgiveness in this situation. "Mr. Black, I'll give you one more chance to explain yourself before I make the rest of your night excruciatingly unpleasant."

Mercury opened his eyes slightly. He located Port, who was much closer than he had expected. There was still a firearm trained on him. With no desire to absorb another shot from it, he raised his arms in surrender.

Port did not welcome this concession warmly. Considering that Mercury had launched a sneak attack, with the apparent intent to incapacitate him, simply ducking out of the fight was not an option. He lived for the hunt. Whatever game this… kid… was trying to play, it was for cowards. An honorable individual in the same situation would not just… give up. In a calm voice, he repeated his demands. "There is no surrender here, Mr. Black. You made a choice, which you will now explain to me, before we finish this childish game."

Mercury coughed, and mumbled something incoherent under his breath, while grimacing towards Port.

He took a step closer, and prepared to demand that Mercury repeat himself. In the blink of an eye, Mercury's grimace disappeared, revealing his signature smirk. From his position lying on his back, he straightened one leg, and simultaneously fired his one functioning boot into the shin of Professor Port, effectively knocking his leg out from under him. Fortunately for Mercury, his masterful performance faking an injury had instilled a false sense of security in the otherwise vigilant professor.

The impact to his shin was easily enough to throw him off balance, and spun him slightly. With the energy he had left, Mercury used his other foot to kick the hand that Port used to hold his blunderbuss, sending the weapon flying several feet. The weight transfer that accompanied the swinging of his leg for the kick caused Mercury to end up on his hands and knees. From there, it was a simple, quick movement to hop to his feet. Without any hesitation, he made a brief analysis of the man that had stood over him triumphantly only seconds before. Still off balance, and recoiling from the kick to his arm, there was realistically no way that Mercury could botch this attack.

For once, things actually went according to plan. He fired one more shot right into Port's face, at what was effectively point-blank range. The blast sent him to the ground in a heap. For the first time since launching his attack, calmness overtook the room. Mercury cautiously walked towards the downed huntsman, watching carefully for any signs of deception. When he got close enough, a few complimentary kicks to the midsection ensured that a counterattack would not be coming any time soon.

He took just a moment to revel in his victory, before remembering his manners. He cleared his throat, and repeated himself, "I said... no tag backs..." Adrenaline flowed through Mercury like he hadn't felt in quite some time. This had been a real fight, not a staged spectacle designed to influence people as part of some grand scheme. As the dust settled in the wake of his duel, he remembered that there were two other intruders lurking somewhere nearby, and they had most likely heard the shots that had been exchanged.

The skirmish left the two combatants in the open at the bottom of the stairway, on the lecture floor. Port was on the floor in a much more literal sense than Mercury, who was at least still on his feet. He made a decision to attempt to hide Port's body from the other two huntsmen, of course, but also from Emerald, who probably wouldn't be pleased with his 'fight first, ask questions later' approach. As he began to drag the heavyset professor out of sight behind a row of desks, he took note of the breaths that he was still taking. _Still kickin' big guy?_ Then, he realized how that could become advantageous. _Good, I might need you for leverage later._

The distance that Mercury dragged his victim was no more than a few yards, but when he released the weight from his hands, he put his hands on his knees and huffed loudly, drained from the mounting strain on his body. The lack of sleep, damaged foot, his recent fight and dietary deficiency left him with significantly less energy than he was used to having. Once again, he was forced to remind himself that there were other potential threats roaming around. Slowly, Mercury straightened himself out, and stood completely upright.

He felt several pops in his back as he stretched it out, and groaned at his own physical condition. Nonetheless, he made the determination to try to find out what the status of the other people in the immediate vicinity was. Before he could even turn toward the exit to the room, a voice called out to him. "Mercury!"

He knew the voice, and without turning around, began offering assurances to appease what he thought might be a concerned partner. "Don't worry Em, everything's okay in here. I took care of it." Mercury was sure that if Emerald was confident enough to call out with such a loud volume, then surely, his choice to match it would be acceptable.

As he began to turn around to address Emerald more directly, another, completely unfamiliar voice called out from somewhere within a reasonable proximity to his partner. "Took care of what?" Neptune's voice combined with his unexpected presence in the room, although not exceedingly intimidating, caused the majority of the color to drain from Mercury's face.

Emerald stood in the doorway, clearly bewildered, and lacking any idea of how to defuse the situation that Mercury's ignorance had just created. Alongside her stood two others with similarly confused expressions on their faces. For a moment, the room fell silent again. The brief interlude gave Emerald enough time to slowly move into the room toward Mercury, which was her way of subtly creating more space between herself and the two members of team SSSN, in the event of a confrontation. As she moved away, Sage and Neptune both scanned the area for any sign of their fire team leader.

There was no trace of him. The room looked like it had been the scene of a fairly aggressive physical altercation based on the cracks that ran along the staircase and one large crater in the middle of it. Turning his attention back to his new acquaintances, Sage noticed Emerald casually drifting further and further into the room. Mercury remained completely still, almost frozen in the same position he had been in since he turned around. Something was wrong, but Sage didn't know how to address the suspicions that he had about the situation.

His words seemed to startle both Emerald and Mercury. "So uh… where's Professor Port?" A brief pause that elicited no response followed. "I literally watched him come in here not even five minutes ago. Did you see him?" Still, there was nothing from either of them, only a mutual exchange of shrugs and bewildered expressions. Sage found their lack of information to be even more suspect. He took two steps, officially entering the room. At the same time, he wrapped one of his hands around the hilt of his sword, which extended over his shoulder. His intention was to make it abundantly clear that he knew something wasn't quite right with this situation.

Emerald gave her partner a worried look. She didn't anticipate things going so badly as quickly as they had. She knew, without even having seen what Mercury had done to the old man with her own eyes, that the two men near the entrance could not be allowed to see it either. She wished there was some way she could have thirty seconds to talk to Mercury, to come up with a plan, or at least generalize a strategy. As things were, any whispers or quiet conversation with Mercury would invite questions… questions for which there were not favorable answers.

As Sage prepared to descend the staircase, he felt a hand stop him. He very quickly shifted his head to find Neptune staring at him with a very stern expression. A quick glance at Emerald confirmed that she was far enough away that a hushed conversation would remain between the two of them. He spoke quietly. "Something's not right here. We've gotta get away from these guys." In contrast to the other pair of people in the room Neptune wasn't concerned with what sorts of negative signals he was sending by essentially whispering.

Sage responded with an angry-toned whisper. "We can't just leave… Port's here somewhere. He has to be. The guy's impossible to lose track of. They're hiding something."

They briefly exchanged contemplative looks until something clicked in Neptune's mind. His eyes opened wide, and a smile briefly formed on one half of his face. "You're right." His expression became much more serious. "Get ready, this could get ugly really fast." He turned his head toward Mercury, who had now been joined by Emerald at the base of the stairs.

"Slow down Nep, what are you talking about?" Sage's concerns fell on deaf ears as Neptune drew his weapon and took aim at the gray-haired man. "Neptune? Jesus, stop! Think before you do something you're gonna regret!" He didn't get a reaction from his teammate. "Listen to me!"

Neptune remained focused on Mercury. His finger moved from a safety position to the trigger of his weapon. He applied pressure to it, which caused the fusion coils in his rifle to hum and glow as they charged. In short order, a single energy blast shot across the room, which Mercury easily jumped out of the way of. Neptune waited a moment for the room to return to its previously quiet state. There was no counterattack, because his target, as well as Emerald, was still trying to maintain a facade of innocence.

"How's the leg?" Neptune asked in the wake of Mercury's evasive acrobatics. Sage, who was now aware of the point that Neptune was trying to make, drew his sword so that he would be ready for whatever came next.

"Aw, shucks. Looks like ya got me." Mercury broke out of his recent vow of silence. "This must be the part where I go on a long-winded monologue about how you figured out my diabolical plan. Except… I don't have a plan. I'm a renegade. And you attacked me? Not a great idea." He laughed, somewhat maniacally. "You have… NO clue about the world of pain that you just stepped into. But don't worry, you'll see soon enough."

Neptune checked to his right, making sure that Sage was on the same wavelength. He was. His weapon was drawn, and his attention was very clearly focused on Mercury and Emerald. Although there was still no way of knowing what their motivations were, it was quite clear that they had played some role in the chaos that had unfolded at Beacon. If there had to be a fight, at least they could take solace in the fact that they were fighting for the right side.

One final assessment of his new foes showed that Mercury was beaming with hubris. Emerald stood silently alongside him with what could only be described as a look of complete surprise on her face. Neptune assumed that he would take the lead, and thus prepared to give the go-ahead to commence their attack, but Sage lurched forward very prematurely, and very unexpectedly. His form was inexplicably poor. In fact, he didn't seem to be using any identifiable combat discipline. It looked a lot like he had simply flung his body towards his enemies.

Then, there was a jolt to the back of Neptune's right leg, just below the knee. The impact dropped him to a half kneel. A sudden, intense pain in his calf, followed by a distinct inability to get back to his feet was an unmistakable indication that something had gone tragically wrong. From his knees, he watched Sage fly directly into a boot to the face from Mercury, and fall to the ground like a ragdoll. As he helplessly watched the scene in front of him unfold, his view became obscured by the appearance of a petite young girl passing slowly in front of him. Her most prominent feature was her distinctively two-toned hair.

She walked towards Emerald. Mercury just watched her, frowning as she came nearer to him. But after a moment, he turned back to Neptune, and resumed his laughter. "Do you have any idea how long she was standing behind you two? She hits like a truck too, as your friend here found out."

Neptune removed his steadying hand from his weapon, and reached around behind himself, searching for the source of his pain. He didn't dare take his eyes off of Mercury, but still managed to find the accursed umbrella. There was no time to consider the most medically sound ways to handle a puncture wound, so he gritted his teeth and pulled it out as quickly as he could. For a moment, Neptune was thoroughly disgusted with himself for being incapacitated by something he had held in his own hand mere minutes ago. He hurled it away from himself in frustration.

He knew he had to get up, but standing was an… interesting… proposition now. The vast majority of his weight and balance were being handled by his left leg. He was able to manage it, but he was forced to transition his weapon into its trident form to support himself.

Mercury began to step closer to the hobbled Neptune. "I've gotta give you credit, without little Neo here, you might have been able to actually win… as much as it pains me to admit it. I haven't slept in days. But once I'm done with you, I'll rest assured that nobody's going to mess with us."

Neptune limped backwards, one hop at a time, towards the door. The thought of leaving Sage behind was devastating to him, but what else could he do? Standing and fighting was practically the only option, except that he could barely stand, and fighting was loosely based on the ability to remain upright. He took another hop back, but this time stumbled over something on the ground behind him, and fell backwards. Mercury laughed again, but was interrupted this time by the short yelp of a tiny gray and black Corgi lying under the weight of Neptune's legs.

With an understanding of what Zwei's presence meant, he almost cried. _Thank you based Corgi._


	34. Party Crasher

Chapter 34: Party Crasher

The second river crossing was the final obstacle to overcome before stepping onto Beacon proper. If they were being honest, their trek seemed to be much more serene than what they had observed by watching the other half of their team. Contrary to the relative peace that they enjoyed as they waded across the water, Scarlet's constant stream of questions had become something of a nuisance to both Sun and Oobleck along their journey from their forest encampment to Beacon. "Which building did they go in... Why didn't they turn on the lights on the top floor like they were supposed to... Do you think they found anybody?"

Most of his questions did not have clear answers, so none were given. The foursome maintained a loose noise discipline when Scarlet wasn't busy breaking it. There had been no Grimm engagements along their trip. After the Nevermore and its entourage of Griffons flew away, the grounds surrounding the school became almost eerily quiet, with most of the smaller, land based Grimm scattering randomly, or retreating back to the interior regions. Even still, there was no clear line of sight to the interior courtyards, so caution was still exercised.

The smallest member of the group was the first one to reach the opposite bank of the river. Zwei shook the water off of himself, then walked in several tiny circles as if he was searching for something. The three men still wading through the water didn't pay much attention to it. They all had other things on their minds. After all, their journey had been pushed ahead somewhat based on the abnormal Grimm activity that they had witnessed.

In their own ways, they had all considered that splitting up might have been an unnecessary risk to take as part of their attempt to explore such a dangerous place. The time that had passed between the separation of the two groups had been less than an hour. But it had been enough to observe all of the bizarre goings on, emanating from the center of the school. At Sun's insistence, the four of them set out ahead of their predetermined schedule. Needless to say, they were all anxious to confirm that their friends and companions were safe.

As if he had nothing better to do than draw attention to himself, Scarlet spoke up again, "Where's Zwei off to?" Sun and Oobleck snapped out of their individual instances of tunnel vision to notice that their canine comrade had begun trotting towards the nearest building to their tiny beachhead.

Oobleck stopped in the middle of the water, keen to observe what Zwei was doing. After a moment of silent contemplation, he stated what was already obvious to the others in the way that had come to define him. "Gentlemen, it would appear that our canine companion has picked up a scent. Because of the naturally heightened instincts that dogs possess, it would be in our best interest to follow him at a safe distance."

From the far shore, Sun looked back at Doctor Oobleck. He hated to be disrespectful, but the man had an uncanny knack for saying the most obvious things. Constantly. He just didn't seem to understand that he was talking to huntsmen in training, not children. Everything was a lecture, which was useful in some situations, but not exactly necessary in this particular one. As far as he could tell, Zwei had picked up the scent of something, and he had to find out what that was. "Yeah, we know. Dogs are good at smelling stuff. Got it. Let's just go."

Oobleck must have realized the same thing, as he watched the students giving chase to Zwei, and then looked down at his own legs, which were partially submerged in the water. He considered that maybe he didn't give them enough credit as huntsmen, but at the same time, he couldn't bear the burden of guilt if something were to happen to them, especially something that he could have prevented. His position as the leader of this half of the expeditionary force meant that their safety was his responsibility. So he stepped out of the water and set out after the rest of his team.

Further ahead, Sun found it remarkable how quickly Zwei moved, considering his short, stubby legs. He and Scarlet were only just able to catch a glimpse of him entering one of the buildings on the outer edge of the campus before he disappeared inside.

"How can anything so small be so bloody fast!?" Scarlet's habitual outbursts of rhetorical questions had long ago become a source of aggravation for Sun. More often than not, he could ignore them. But even Doctor Oobleck heard him quite clearly from his position a few dozen paces behind them.

In a loud sort of whisper that had become commonly used during years of field work with other huntsmen and huntresses, Oobleck attempted to reign in his younger teammates. "Will you please keep your voice down, Mr. David? As I'm sure you are well aware, there could well be large concentrations of Grimm in or around this area." Turning his attention to Sun, he continued. "Sun, your enthusiasm for this mission is impressive, almost inexplicably so, honestly. But I would ask that you not run off in pursuit of our canine friend so…blindly. We cannot be sure who, or what, he is tracking. And until we find out, we must use the utmost degree of caution."

Sun couldn't help but disagree. "I know you're trying to protect us Doc, but I have a responsibility to the rest of my team. Maybe they're just inside searching for survivors, but if they're in trouble, then I can't afford to wait for Zwei to save them." He didn't dare address Oobleck's comment about his enthusiasm. He was a part of this mission because it was just about the only way to purge his mind of his last interaction with Blake. And yet, he still couldn't shake the notion that she just might work her way into this mess at some point. He knew that someone was in the woods with them, but not who.

"I understand your concern Sun. You must remember that Peter is in there as well. He is one of my closest friends, and although he is more than capable of handling himself, I intend to see to his well-being personally. We will proceed with caution, but not without concern for our teammates." He watched the young Faunus fight an internal struggle to comply with the suggestion… or quite possibly lash out against it, and made an attempt to help. "Why don't you take point? Scarlet and I will follow close behind."

A proud smile overtook Sun's face. He would get to dictate the terms of their search. Not only that, but Oobleck evidently trusted him enough to grant him this responsibility. The thought of this satisfied him greatly. "Sounds good to me. Let's get moving, we've wasted enough…"

Sun's first order was cut short by a distant rumble, which sounded quite a bit like thunder. All three men turned their attention to Vale, where the sound seemed to have originated from. At this distance, it was difficult to tell exactly what had caused it. When the second rumble tore through the air, they were able to observe the flash that accompanied it, revealing that it was in fact… gunfire. Against the dark backdrop of the night sky, it looked like nothing, but with each flash of light, the massive Schnee Dust Company airship became visible again. The tiny silhouettes that surrounded the ship, and the large ones that seemed to circle it were the source of some uncertainty.

Oobleck was the first to give his evaluation of the scene unfolding in the distance. "I would submit that the ship hovering over Vale is being attacked by the very same swarm of Grimm that we saw fly from Beacon Tower."

"Like some kind of… Grimm-nado..." Scarlet's comment was met with a stunned silence for a few moments, until Sun had finished rolling his eyes into the back of his head.

With a flat, defeated tone to his voice, he scolded his teammate for the terrible pun. "Really? Scar? That's where you went with that?"

"What, I thought it was clever… it's like the movie… You know..." he retorted.

Sun refused to give it any credence. "The movie… My god… Can we just get going before my urge to tape your mouth shut increases any further? There's literally nothing we can do to help that ship right now. Let's just stick to the plan."

"Agreed..." was the only word to come from Doctor Oobleck, who was rubbing his forehead as if he had been punched in the brain by Scarlet's earlier comment.

Before returning to their single-minded focus regarding the mission at hand, the trio watched as the great ship began to move away from the city, still firing its thunderous cannons in defense. Staying true to his earlier assessment about their inability to help, Sun turned his gaze away from Vale, and began taking steps toward the building that Zwei had already infiltrated.

There was nothing flashy or out of the ordinary about the building itself. Its large block construction gave it the appearance of a structure of great strength. The school itself was founded after the Great War, making any part of it at most eighty years old… relatively modern in the grand scheme of things. The metal door that rested partially ajar looked to be a more recent addition, adding security against potential intruders, but doing little to combat huntsmen with tridents who were determined to gain entry.

The evidence of Neptune's forced entry had left a scar on the door on the outer wall of the building. Of course, Sun had no way of knowing this… and really didn't pay much attention to it regardless. He peeked his head inside, hoping to find some sign of his teammates, or at least Zwei. Instead there was nothing, save for an ambient dust that filled the air, and the faint smell of smoke that could have come from any number of sources resulting from the events of the last few days.

He placed one hand on the door, and gently shoved it open, at least far enough that he could effortlessly step inside. Still, there was nothing to be seen, but there was a sound coming from nearby that was most definitely language. Sun couldn't make out whose voice it was, or who else might have been involved in the conversation, but he was sure that someone was talking to someone very nearby. Turning around, he poked his head back outside, and gave the all clear to Scarlet and Oobleck, before retreating back inside.

With his teammates on their way, Sun felt confident enough to call out, to get some form of closure regarding the identity of the voices. He began quietly, at a conversational volume. "Hello? Is anybody in here?" There was no response, which he considered was likely because he hadn't been loud enough. His next attempt included much more gusto. "Neptune? Sage? It's Sun… You guys in here? Professor Port? Anybody?"

The silence following his second attempt was alarmingly brief. "Sun? We're here! Help us!"

Sun wasn't sure exactly where 'here' was, but he was able to generalize that the voice sounded a lot like Neptune, and that it had come from one of the rooms closeby. 'Help' was not a word he expected to hear either, especially not from one of his teammates. His instincts kicked in, and he began sprinting down the hall. It turned out to be a waste of energy, as the room he was looking for ended up being the first on his right. By the time he was able to break his stride, he stood in the middle of the double-wide entryway.

The first thing he saw was Neptune, pulling himself to his feet, clinging to his trident. He was facing down into the large lecture hall. As his eyes worked in concert with his mind to collect all of the details of the situation, he noticed Neptune's leg. Specifically, the rip in the back of his pant leg, and the blood that had stained the area around it. Zwei stood next to him, growling in the same direction as Neptune was facing. Before he could so much as address his teammate, he noticed another person running towards them.

It took Mercury until he was halfway up the stairs to realize that Sun had reinforced his quickly withering team. This fact didn't stop him. Neptune was too easy of a target to let slip away on account of one Faunus. It did, however, inform him enough to know that a flying kick was probably not the best course of action, based on his encounter with Port earlier. He closed the distance on foot, planting himself a few feet from the wounded huntsman, and preparing some form of a roundhouse kick. In his estimation, there was no way that someone in Neptune's condition could dodge it. And he was right.

Neptune couldn't do anything. He didn't have to. Before Mercury's leg could swing into his defenseless target, it was redirected into the ground by Sun, who had in a blur of smooth, continuous motion, leapt forward towards his teammate and wound up an overhead strike with his staff. The impact drove Mercury's leg straight down into the ground, short of Neptune.

Mercury now stood face to face with both Neptune and Sun and for a moment, everything came to a standstill. Mercury was clearly aggravated by this interruption, as it had gotten in the way of his continued domination of his opponents. "You people just don't know when to stop, do you? How many of you do I have to take out befo-"

His sentence was cut short by another strike from Sun's staff, this time to the side of Mercury's head. He had attempted to block the attack with his arm, but the force of the swing overpowered the makeshift parry. The impact caused him to stumble back a few steps, while Sun twirled his weapon, and assumed a defensive position in front of Neptune. His words to Mercury were very straightforward, as they usually were. "You talk too much."

Maintaining a defensive position, he very quickly asked Neptune, "You alright?" Perhaps the question he asked wasn't the most important one he could have posed, but it covered his immediate concerns. As the words came out of his mouth, his powers of observation expanded past the reeling Mercury to encompass his other teammate lying on the ground near the bottom of the stairs, writhing ever so slightly in discomfort. This marked yet another red flag that something was very wrong with the scene in front of him.

Neptune answered, "I've been better… I don't think I can move very fast… But I can probably still shoot. These guys are unpredictable and dangerous. You're not… Sun, you can't fight them all by yourself..."

Sun could tell that Neptune wasn't in any condition to fight, but he also knew based on what he had seen of his friend's injuries that he wouldn't really be able to evacuate himself either. "Chill out dude, everything's gonna be fine. You just try to get yourself out of here if you can. The cavalry's coming."

As expected, Neptune didn't make much of an effort to get out of the room. Honestly, Sun considered how much of a challenge that would actually be, what with how much weight he had seemed to be putting on his trident-turned-crutch. "Sun, you don't understand… These people are dangerous. They did that to Sage, and this one..." he pointed at Mercury with the arm that wasn't bearing any weight "...did something to Port. I don't know where he is." He lowered his voice to attempt to address Sun more privately, "I'm not sure how much I can help you with. I can't do a whole lot more than what I'm doing right now, man. It was the short one… she came out of nowhere, caught both of us off guard. It wasn't even a fight."

"Hmm…" Sun looked down at the other two people standing at the bottom of the room. Two women, both of whom he was familiar, but not acquainted with. With his assessment complete, he turned his attention to the more immediate threat, who had not backed down, but still appeared to be fuming over the ease with which he had been repelled. Sun wasted no time with smalltalk or intimidation tactics. "So… what's your deal? Who are you people?"

Mercury looked particularly aggravated, a notable departure from the laughter and smiles that he had enjoyed when his side seemed assured victory. "I wouldn't worry about it. If you're anything like your friends here, it really won't matter in a few minutes."

"Oh, you're a badass then? Cool." Sun deflected Mercury's threat. "So here's how this is gonna go. First, you're gonna tell me where Professor Port is. After that, I guess we can talk about why you're doing all of this. Then, when we're done having that conversation, I'll probably drag you into custody in Vale." Thoughts of his junior detective badge flashed gloriously through his mind.

The signature smirk returned, and with it a snort which indicated that Mercury had his doubts about Sun's ability to backup any part of the plan he laid out. "Ok, sure monkey boy… You and what army?"

In a moment of perfect dramatic timing, Sun detected the presence of Scarlet and Doctor Oobleck rushing into the room behind him. A quick glance back was all he needed to confirm it. Ignoring the bewildered expressions that they displayed, he turned back to Mercury and reciprocated his half-smile. "Uh, I guess that one." He didn't know all of the details of what Mercury had done in the last few weeks, more specifically the last few hours, but Sun took great enjoyment in seeing the smile fade into a concerned grimace.

Mercury took several slow steps backwards, attempting to avoid overplaying the uneasiness that he felt standing opposite of so many formidable fighters. As he did, he became close enough to his allies that they could actually communicate without broadcasting their words to everyone else nearby. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity since entering the room, Emerald spoked to Mercury in as low a tone as she though was still audible to him. "We have to get out of this Mercury. Stop trying to pick a fight. Have you not noticed that they're blocking our only way out of here?"

Mercury growled back at her. He knew she was right, but his pride wouldn't let him back down from the blonde haired Faunus standing across the room.

Scarlet rushed to Neptune immediately upon noticing his physical condition. He took his wounded teammate's arm, and put it over his own shoulder. For his part, Oobleck didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation, but could sense the tension in the air. He spoke briefly to Neptune quietly, to make sure that he was not injured more seriously than it appeared, and confirmed that he wasn't. With that out of the way, he joined Sun opposite of Mercury, Emerald and Neo.

He looked at the two women, then Mercury, then Sun. "Ladies… Gentlemen… It seems I've arrived a bit late to the metaphorical party so… If someone would be so kind as to let me know what in the world is going on, we can get on with… whatever this is."

Neptune wasted no time in airing his perspective of the night's events. "Long story short, Port came in this room, then goes missing. Sage and I showed up and asked about him, then got sneak-attacked by the little one over there. Don't know why." Oobleck became visibly angered by his colleague's disappearance. He drew his thermos, and readied it for combat, extending it into its projectile form.

Sun picked up the story with his entrance, "When I got here, it looked like they were in the process of attacking Neptune, just like Sage. I got a few good hits in, and here we are."

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way…" Neptune interjected.

"No problem." His response to Neptune was at the same hushed volume as the rest of the conversation. Then, Sun raised his voice so that everyone in the room would be able to hear it. "Right now, I'm going to come down there and help my other teammate." He pointed at Mercury, "You... are not going to move. After that we'll figure out how to settle all of this."

Mercury wasn't thrilled with this itinerary. "You're pretty confident for someone who doesn't understand what he's getting himself into, and I gotta be honest with you… I gave your friends the same warning right before they ended up like this guy."

Sun kept his staff readied in one hand, and took two steps toward Sage. Mercury made a move to match him, but was stopped in his tracks by a ball of fire that was propelled his way by Doctor Oobleck. In the wake of the small explosion, Mercury was taken aback. "Mr. Black," Oobleck made one more plea, "I do not know what you've done, nor can I fathom what you plan to do. But whatever it is, I assure you… it is not too late to stop." He waited a moment, trying to gauge the young man's reaction to his proposition. "We only want to help our friends."

Shaking his head, Mercury acknowledged, but at the same time shot down the proposition, "Why bother? Don't you people realize that you don't have control any more? Can't you see how fast things went from peace to paranoia? Synergy to savagery? Let me help you with that." He snapped his fingers, "That fast. And it's going to get much, much worse for you. Wanna know the best part? I don't have to do a damn thing. You're gonna do it to yourselves. You people and your delicate system of alliances crumbled at the first hint of trouble. You have no idea what's in store for you next. It's really too bad that the CCTS is down for the count. I'd love to kick my feet up and watch it all come apart."

After a long sigh, Oobleck let his expression droop into a sort of sadness at the words coming from the corrupted youth in front of him. He casually, and almost reluctantly, matched the steps that Sun had taken earlier, and now stood alongside the young fighter, who was still in a ready position. Sun acknowledged the inevitability that they both had on their minds with a nod. "Mr. Black, if you are trying to intimidate us, you're going to have to do better than harsh words…"

Emerald and Neopolitan, who had been observers for the majority of this confrontation, exchanged annoyed expressions. Emerald had no idea what Mercury's endgame was for any of this. In her estimation, he would either have to swallow his pride and back down, or fight several skilled huntsmen. She knew that if it came to a fight, she would have no choice but to help her partner, but Neo was something of a wildcard, considering her… less than amiable disposition toward Mercury.

Sun descended the final few stairs to the place where Sage was resting on the ground, and now stood on the lecture room floor. He kept his guard up, but slowly knelt down to try to help his friend.

Mercury's eyes followed Sun's every move. He wished with every fiber of his being that there was some opening, or some weakness to exploit. The lessons learned from fighting Port had left an impression on his ego, and his midsection. So, with that in mind, he continued to watch.

Before fully committing to Sage, Sun panned his head right, then left. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Professor Port for the first time since separating earlier. He was lying face down, pushed up against the first row of desks in the room, making him invisible to anyone not standing at ground level in the room. He was breathing, that much could be deciphered by the rising and falling of the large man's chest. His analysis was interrupted by a rumbling sound.

In the blink of an eye, Sun shot back to his feet as the entire room began to shake. His first instinct was to shift his focus back to Mercury. He expected that somehow, the deviant standing in front of him was responsible for the tremor. Instead, he found Mercury standing exactly as he had been before, with same cold, determined expression on his face. It was almost like he didn't even notice the interruption. Looking past him, Sun noticed the two women in the background looking around the room inquisitively, seemingly unsure as to the source of the disturbance..

For a few seconds, no one moved. When the rumbling faded a bit, Sun spoke to Oobleck, but did not look away from Mercury, who would very easily be able to hear him. "I see Port. He's alive." He didn't need to say anything more with regard to their incapacitated ally, Oobleck had been closely watching Sun's every move as he inched closer to Sage, then looked around the room.

Sun's words were now redirected at Mercury. "So you're some kind of agent of chaos. I get it… But do ya think you could… maybe… not… do that right now? I want to help my friends… Our friends. If you're dead set on stopping me, I've got no problem with readjusting your face again. I gotta tell ya, given the circumstances, it seems like an incredible waste of time, but hey… I've got nothing but time now that you kinda… stopped the tournament… and overran the school with Grimm… which reminds me, I meant to ask. That was you, right?"

Mercury smiled again, "You have no idea how in over your head you are… And to be honest, I'll admit that I've made some mistakes today," He stopped himself. He wanted to make sure that his words would not be misinterpreted as an apology, or anything even remotely resembling regret. "Let me try that again. It's not my style to leave a trail. See, I'm kinda like a ghost. The fact that you've seen me here means that I've made some mistakes. Mistakes that I intend to rectify before calling it a day. That means… you can help whoever you want, but my entire purpose here is to send a... very… clear message… to all of you… that you are not welcome here any more."

Emerald began to move closer to Mercury. She wasn't sure if what she felt was inspiration or desperation, but to her, it seemed a lot like her help would be required in very short order. Her steps were very slow and cautious, and she took great care to avoid making any sudden or aggressive moves. Oobleck and Sun noticed her creeping closer to them, but chose not to direct their attention away from Mercury. Neither one of them was particularly thrilled about starting what seemed like an unavoidable conflict, but if it had to happen, they didn't want to be the aggressors.

Everything was put on hold when the entire building quaked once again. The ambience was different this time. The rumble was accompanied by a long, low roar that seemed to echo from down the hall, but at the same time permeated the walls from every direction. From inside, it felt and sounded like an enormous freight train was just circling the building. Zwei seemed to sense what was coming and growled, but his warning was almost inaudible amidst the rest of the noise.

The two pairs of combatants remained locked into a staring contest in the middle of the room, with neither group willing to give any ground to the other, despite their curiosity regarding the apparent earthquake that seemed to be happening around them. That is, until the wall behind Mercury and Emerald exploded into a cloud of dust, debris and smoke. They found themselves almost immediately shrouded by a heavy shower of concrete, drywall and innumerable other materials that formerly comprised an exterior wall.

Mercury immediately began to consider a potential plan of attack, using the dust as a shroud. He couldn't see much, but if he could get close enough, he was sure that he could handle anyone in the room in a fight. His plans changed when a hand grabbed him from behind. Emerald was quick to reach for Mercury's arm while she could still make it out through the dust. "Come on!" was her only comment to him as she attempted to drag him back towards what used to be a wall. As far as she was concerned, this was the break that they needed to get out of a situation that was not strategically important enough to warrant a fight on something resembling even terms. For a moment, Mercury resisted, but even he knew that staying to fight would be pointless. His run-in with Ruby several days before would be enough to blow his cover. He had hoped to salvage some pride out of all of this. The realization that he had actually taken down two huntsmen, albeit with some help from Neo, was a victory that he could take some solace in.

Mercury wondered where Neo had gotten to in all of the chaos. She had been helpful, for once, in incapacitating Sage, and handicapping Neptune. Unfortunately for her, Mercury didn't care. He was still nursing a damaged prosthetic because of her, which had gotten him into some trouble on at least one occasion. He reluctantly allowed himself to be guided by Emerald, and the two of them ran off into the smoke. As they did, they seemed to be running underneath what had quite apparently caused the rumble. Its legs were like tree trunks, and its enormous torso was mostly distinguishable even with their obscured vision.

"My God," were the only two words to accompany the incredulous expression on Oobleck's face at the sight of a Goliath emerging from the smoke. "They must have been drawn here by all of the negative tension. We have to…" his words trailed off as he realized that he was talking to no one. His two opponents had been obscured by the expanding cloud in front of him, and Sun had gone straight to Professor Port. Recognizing that he had to contribute to this sudden and unexpected rescue in some way, he looked down at Sage, who had evidently been jolted back to consciousness by the sudden burst of activity in the room. "Right, let's get you out of here."

Once Sage was helped to his feet, he was able to walk with Oobleck's assistance. He was a bit unsteady on his own, but at least he didn't need to be carried. Sun wasn't as lucky. His split-second decision to try to help Port was looking more perilous by the moment. The enormous Grimm that had emerged from the smoke seemed unable to locate the focal point of negativity that had drawn it here in the first place. Instead of searching for it, it turned its attention to Sun, who was not only struggling to lift the much larger man, but also the first thing that the Goliath cast its gaze upon.

Sun's suddenly dire situation did not go unnoticed. Before he could think to call out for help, Scarlet arrived at his side, next to Port's unconscious body. Sun immediately glanced up towards Neptune, who was obscured somewhat by the billowing cloud of dust. He had been joined by Oobleck and Sage, and now, much like Sage, Neptune was supporting himself against the Doctor. Sun called out as loudly as he could to the trio near the entrance of the room, "Go! Get out of here! We'll be right behind you!"

The words made it through all of the commotion, and the mass of broken humanity that was Sage and Neptune supporting themselves against Oobleck began its slow turn to orient itself towards the exit.

Before they could take more than a few steps toward the door, Neptune saw a silhouette casually moving into view from their left, hidden partially by the last row of desks in the room. The group stopped, and Neptune mumbled a couple expletives under his breath as he realized that it was her. Neo didn't seem to care that she was staring down three huntsmen, albeit only one that could really put up a fight, as she continued to stroll closer to them. In a matter of seconds, she closed the gap between them to less than an arm's length.

Neo stood directly in front of a now trembling Neptune, looking up at the much taller man. She tilted her head and smiled, before kneeling down, almost to the floor. It wasn't until she picked up the umbrella that rested at her feet on the ground that Neptune wished he had thrown it further. When she got back up, she smiled again, but this time winked at him, before taking several steps backwards, curtseying, and then vanishing into thin air.

Sage had one hand on his forehead, and more than one question on his mind. "How long was I out? What just happened? I… guess you found your damsel…?"

"I mean, she tried to kill us both," Neptune reminded him.

They were both interrupted by Oobleck dragging the group forward. He was apparently the only one who still remembered that there was a Goliath in the room behind them causing havoc. "Do you think we can save the idle chatter for another time?" Both of the younger men agreed, and the three of them hobbled their way through the doors.

In the meantime, Sun and Scarlet had lifted Professor Port, with the latter electing to use a fireman's carry to balance the much larger man on his shoulders. This way, the process of moving him would only preoccupy one of them, even if it meant more strain on Scarlet. They started to make their way up the stairs, but their pursuer demanded that they die, in the form of a deafening roar. The Goliath unleashed a sound similar to that of a trumpet, only amplified several dozen times. Then, it began to lumber its way menacingly towards Sun and Scarlet.

"We need to get moving Scar, Come on!" Sun shouted over the tremendous noise. He tried as best he could to help Scarlet ascend the stairs to the top of the room, the exit door, and hopefully safety. The added weight of the eldest huntsman made their progress significantly slower than it would have been otherwise. Then, there was the thought that the monster behind him might just smash through the wall in pursuit of them, even if they made it to the exit, but Sun decided to cross that bridge only if he came to it.

There would be no bridge in their future. They didn't even make it halfway up the stairs before the great beast was all but on top of them. Keeping an eye on something so large would have been a simple task if not for the extra luggage that they were carrying. As a result, they couldn't pay close enough attention to see the Goliath lower its head in mid-stride, then swing its tusks at them. The attack fell just short of its intended targets, but the resulting shockwaves, not to mention the debris that was kicked up by the monster's head crashing into the ground behind them, sent the already top heavy Scarlet off balance. Sun tried to stabilize him, but it was too late to make a difference.

Sun watched helplessly as Scarlet and Port fell onto what was left of the stairs. His first instinct was to help them up, but he stopped himself. He turned around completely, and now stood facing a creature hundreds of times his own size. His teammate scrambled back to his feet, and began to drag Port up the stairs as best he could.

When Scarlet looked back to make sure that Sun was alright, he saw what his teammate was doing, and stopped completely. "What are you… Sun, No."

Sun had already made up his mind. As far as he was concerned, this was a responsibility that he had to shoulder. He quickly glanced back, directing his attention at Port. "Scar, you have to get him out of here. I'll slow this thing down… buy you some time. I'll be right behind you."

Scarlet couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Slow it down!? That thing'll kill you if it sneezes on you. Let's go!"

Sun wanted to insist that Scarlet stop wasting precious seconds and just go, but there wasn't enough time. By now, the Goliath had recoiled, recovered, and then repositioned itself to attack again. They both recognized that attempting to flee would be next to pointless. Their pace had been at a crawl as they tried to evacuate their wounded ally. Sun took the initiative. He used the little space he had between himself and the creature to build up to a sprint towards it. Just as it had done before, it lowered its head, and prepared to maul everything in its path with a mighty swing of its tusks. This time, Sun was ready. He planted one end of his staff in the ground, committing himself to attempt to pole vault his way over it. In his mind, this maneuver would land him somewhere behind his target. From there, hopefully he would be able to draw attention away from Scarlet, allowing him to escape.

Sun had not seen the original attack from the Goliath. He was busy helping Scarlet with Professor Port, and therefore did not have a complete understanding of its attack patterns and timing. The creature's speed was surprising, considering how lumbering this type of Grimm always appeared to be from a distance. The error in judgement meant that Sun managed to evade the full force of the swipe, but his staff did not. Before he could complete his acrobatics, it was flicked out from under him as if it were a toothpick, flying out of his hands and across the room. With the source of his propulsion gone, it was no longer possible to gain the momentum necessary to properly push off of the ground as he had planned. Sun was left twisting awkwardly through the air, over the Goliath.

The fact that Sun managed to salvage a respectable landing, considering how turbulent his flight looked, was astonishing to Scarlet. He had seen his share of seemingly effortless maneuvers from his team leader, but it never ceased to amaze him how much control Sun always had. He found himself simply watching everything unfold in front of him until an angry voice got his attention. "Why are you still here!? Go!"

Scarlet knew that he wasn't making efficient use of the several seconds that he had been given. He didn't want to go, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Sun's plan was probably their only chance at getting Port out of the building without further harm. He grabbed the older man's arms and began to drag him up the stairs.

Sun was not as prone to wasting time as some of his teammates, so while Scarlet tried to drag Port to safety, he darted to what he considered the most likely resting place for his staff. It only took him a few seconds to locate the first half of it. In its collapsed form, Sun's weapon was designed to essentially fold into its component parts. He guessed that the immense force applied by the full weight of a Goliath's head acting as a battering ram caused his staff to separate into its two halves. It wasn't an enormous problem, he could still use the nunchuck form with the pieces available to him.

Without spending a second more than was absolutely necessary in evaluating his tactical situation, Sun picked up the half of his weapon that was on the ground in front of him, and immediately began to cycle through the lever actions of the shotguns that formed the two parts of his nunchucks. The shots he was firing were nothing more than a minor inconvenience to the monster in front of him, but his efforts were enough to at least draw its attention. Up until now, the Goliath had been trying to locate its prey, as the physical limitations of being a quadruped meant that it couldn't raise or twist its head to follow his ever evasive prey's trajectory through the air. Sun wanted to be sure that it found him.

The commotion that one pair of his gunchucks created was enough to draw the full attention of the Goliath. Out of the corner of his eye, Sun watched as his teammate slowly made his way towards the exit, according to the plan. Content with the progress, Sun shifted his focus back to finding the missing half of his weapon. He scanned as much as the room as time allowed, before the telltale roar associated with another incoming charge forced him to address the threat that such an attack posed.

Now that he knew what to expect, all that was left to do was figure out how to evade the attack with only half of the weapon that he had access to previously. Sun watched as the Goliath took its first few steps, slowly beginning to build up speed as it moved toward him. Just as before, it lowered its head for an attack. Only this time, it revealed that the other half of his weapon was caught on its tusk. This information was good to know, but not especially useful.

Sun leapt backward as far as he was able, eventually landing on his hands, and pushing off to propel himself back even further. He eventually completed his back handspring and launched into several more, covering an surprising distance in a short amount of time. It was quite a feat, but the Goliath was not impressed. It simply continued its charge directly at Sun, who had now backed himself substantially closer to the wall on the far left side of the room.

A sense of panic began to set in. Sun had assumed that the beast would smash its head into the ground, thereby stopping its progress, and then he could reset, and repeat as long as necessary. As it turned out, the creature seemed to possess a level of intelligence that allowed it to force him into a tight space, by never allowing him time to plan his next move. It just continued charging directly at him. The sweeping nature of its attacks meant that trying to escape to either side would require more time and space than was available. The only option was up.

Sun found himself caught off guard by how quickly and soundly such a lumbering creature had outsmarted him. He had been lulled into thinking that this fight could be won by delay tactics and superior agility. Losing half of his staff had been a stroke of bad luck, mixed with a hint of poor judgement. To be fair, the young huntsman in training had never fought a creature of Grimm that was so cunning.

He jumped into the air as high as he was able, with the hope that he would clear the charging behemoth, and either land on its back, or on the ground behind it entirely. This time, the sweeping attack was more upward than across, and the Goliath's trunk clipped Sun on his way up, sending him spiraling out of control. Propelled by the impact, he flew higher and faster than he had ever intended, causing him to carom off of the ceiling and smash into the ground.

The attack had overwhelmed Sun, but the Goliath had also overexerted itself in committing to it. The upward swipe did not allow time for the aggressor to slow down after connecting. As a result, it plowed through the wall that had been behind Sun and subsequently fell forward through the hole that its head had created. As it slid to a stop, its momentum caused it to bump into another wall in the next room over, creating a gap in it as well.

Sun had not seen anything that happened in the wake of his collision. The time between his flight path being adjusted and the present had been something of a blur for him. He got himself to his feet, and shook the dust and debris off of himself. He wasn't badly hurt, but he definitely felt like he had been hit by an elephant. In the seconds that followed, his senses returned to normal. He quickly turned towards the man-made exit to the room, and saw that Scarlet wasn't still stalling. _Good_ , he thought. Turning his attention back to the fight at hand, Sun realized that his opponent hadn't fared much better than he had after the impact. The gaping hole in the wall was evidence of that.

This new cavity in the room was still partially obscured by even more dust and debris, much like the previous one had been. Sun half expected to hear the Goliath's roar, indicating the resumption of hostilities. In actuality, the sounds he heard were much lower in pitch… more like growls than roars. They also seemed to be echoing from all around him. As he glanced over his right shoulder at the first hole, Sun detected the silhouettes of vaguely humanoid figures of various shapes and sizes coming through it.

For a moment, he thought about calling out to them, but as he watched a few of them, their some of their movements seemed distinctly inhuman. Their vocalizations, incomprehensible. Everything about the situation screamed danger. Sun assumed that he was being surrounded by a pack of Beowolves, or some other form of Grimm. They had probably found their way inside through the path blazed by their larger cousin. With only half of a weapon at his disposal, he knew that this could go very badly, very quickly. Even though he was much more familiar with the fighting style of a Beowolf, a pack of them posed a major threat.

From his position, he saw the figures moving towards the exit that Scarlet and Port had used. Sun knew that he couldn't allow them to reach them, as the resulting fight would be closer to a slaughter. Even though he couldn't be sure whether the evacuation had been completed or not, he was determined to stop the Grimm from finding out. He darted across the room as quickly as his legs could carry him. He lined up the one leading the charge, and shouldered it to the ground.

He was surprised how easily it went down. It was much lighter than he had expected it to be. As they fell to the ground, Sun had landed on top of it… her… and froze in the position that he was in, completely dumbfounded by what he was seeing. Her figure was very much human. Well, mostly... except for the ears. She spoke to him in a language that he understood. And Sun's assessment of the situation had evidently been slightly off-base. As he lay on top of her, the whole world seemed to screech to a halt around him.

Blake's words were like a song playing amidst the chaos, even if they didn't sound like the fairy tale as they had been in Sun's various imaginative iterations of this reunion. "Are you trying to get us killed?"


	35. Help Me Help You

Chapter 35 - Help Me Help You

Sun was teetering somewhere between shocked and offended at Blake's reaction to their reunion. His own response was neither warm nor cold, though a bit sarcastic. "Nice to see you too..." He had either already forgotten, or else blocked out, the fact that he had just tackled one of, if not the single most important person he'd met since arriving in Vale. For a brief moment, they remained motionless on the ground, each trying to prove to themself that the other was real.

Blake decided that physical evidence would do just fine. She shoved Sun off of her, and having determined that the boy was not a hallucination, quickly rose to her feet. Before either of them had time to say anything else, the first silhouettes of a pack of Beowolves appeared in the shroud of dust that was settling agonizingly slowly in the room. They hadn't been able to visually track their prey, which had evidently been Blake, but Sun assumed that their collision and ensuing exchange of greetings had been far from inconspicuous. The growls were getting louder. The sound of approaching footsteps revealed the telltale trot of four-legged beasts.

By the time Sun made it to his feet, the Alpha of the pack had spotted them. He readied himself for a fight with the half of a weapon that he still had in his possession. Beowolves were a welcome change from the things he'd been fighting in the last hour or so. He began to narrow down his targets from the silhouettes and shadows in front of him. Then, from behind him, he heard Blake's voice call out, its inflection revealing a hint of disbelief. "What are you doing? You're not going to fight all of those..."

At first, Sun didn't know what she meant. "Uh... why not?"

"You look like you just got hit by a truck. And you have half of your weapon." She couldn't understand why Sun was throwing caution to the wind. He had always been an aggressive fighter, especially thinking back to the acrobatics he had displayed fighting Torchwick on the highway, or the head to head confrontation with him at the docks, but this time, it seemed borderline suicidal.

"Less is more, Blake. This is all I've got right now. Don't worry about it." Sun took a quick inventory of his appearance, discovering minor smudges and tears on his clothes. "... And if you think I look bad, you should see the truck. That does explain where my other gunchuck is, though. It's in here somewhere, I've just gotta find it."

Having explained himself thoroughly, Sun turned his attention back to the fight ahead of him. He knew roughly where the downed Goliath would be, so that much would be simple. Finding the other half of his staff amidst all of the chaos would be more challenging. Retreat was the last thing on his mind when the sudden and unexpected pressure on his arm dragged him off balance, and towards the door he'd entered from at the top of the room. The only explanation accompanying this apparent change in strategy came from Blake. "Come on!"

Out of the deluge of incoherent sounds that he made, only a few of Sun's syllables even came close to being words. "Wha- Hey! Blake? Why? Where?"

Apparently, they were running now. Sun wished it had been this simple to escape the room earlier in the night, but he had Goliaths and psychopaths to contend with, not to mention wounded teammates. Now, despite not knowing exactly what had happened to the rest of his team, he could leave the room and get out of the forsaken hellhole that Beacon had become.

Or… not. Blake made a right hand turn on the way out of the room, exactly the opposite direction of the way Sun had entered. Before he could dispute her judgement, he heard her voice calling back to him. "The good news is, you've got half a weapon... The bad news is, that's half a weapon more than I have... We're not about to fight an army of Grimm with... two shotguns tied together by a chain." Sun was taken aback somewhat by the last part of her comment. He liked to think that the weapons he had chosen for himself were more than adequate to handle any situation, and this was no exception. Part of him wanted to turn around and prove to Blake that he could handle a few Beowolves without even breaking a sweat. The only thing stopping him from this excessive display of bravado was the other part of him that knew how difficult that fight would actually be. For now, he decided it would be best to just keep following her.

As he ran, he thought about Blake's motivations, Sun hadn't realized that she was still missing her Gambol Shroud until now. He knew that she hadn't been carrying it back at the hospital, but he never actually asked what had happened to it. He'd meant to bring it up as a point of conversation, but in the last few hours he'd spent with her in Vale, the opportunity just never presented itself naturally. For now, he decided to remain focused and just follow her lead, which turned out to be much more difficult than he remembered. She was remarkably fleet of foot, and in the narrow hallways that were unfamiliar to him, Blake was very nearly leaving Sun in the dust, and the Grimm had all but given up chasing them after a short time.

Seeing Blake active again so soon was refreshing. It had only been a few days since Sun had to literally carry her up to her hospital room because she couldn't walk far enough to... escape, for lack of a better word, on her own. Now she was almost moving too fast, and seemed to have a distinct purpose. Unfortunately, Sun had no idea what that could be. With no idea where they were, or where they were going, he was along for the ride.

After an exhaustingly circuitous sprint down several unfamiliar halls, they stopped. Blake made sure that the Grimm did not have line of sight on them any more, and the two Faunus ducked into a small room, which Sun assumed was likely a storage closet of some sort based on the school supplies and janitorial equipment strewn throughout it. As quickly and quietly as possible, the door was pulled shut. It was crucial to maintain absolute silence. Beowolves were good trackers, but the ambient haze would make it difficult for them to pick up a scent. For now, Sun and Blake sat in almost complete darkness, each staring at what they assumed was the other.

It didn't take long for a half dozen lost and confused Beowolves to catch up, but now their howls and grunts were different. They no longer seemed to be planning an attack with one another, now they were hunting, with little success. Once again, the Grimm were foiled by a door. Perhaps if they knew that their prey was inside, they might attempt to break it down, but without any way to ascertain such a knowledge, they were left to wander the halls of a nearly abandoned building aimlessly.

Seconds passed, then minutes, then an hour, then two. The temptation to say something was maddening for Sun. He had begun their residence by taking a seat on the floor, but eventually grew stiff from staying in one position for too long, so he stood up, and leaned himself against a shelf to stretch his legs. Blake never moved. It was difficult to tell if the figure sharing the room with Sun was actually Blake, or just a statuesque copy that she'd left behind.

The night was nearing the end of its stay in Vale, and the hall had been quiet for some time. Blake shifted from her seated position on top of a box, startling Sun. He watched as Blake walked past him, in an impossibly silent manner, and rested her hand on the doorknob. With the utmost care, she twisted it excruciatingly slowly, testing for any creak or squeal that would give them away. It had been well oiled, apparently. The only sound to be heard was the click of the bolt unlatching from the groove cut into the door frame, and even that was barely audible. As it swung open, a dim light flowed into the room. It wasn't excessively bright, but all of the time spent in the dark made it seem that much more intense.

Blake peered out into the hallway, looked around for a bit, and then stepped out entirely. Sun still didn't move, instead resigning himself to wait for some sort of signal. There was no reason to block the doorway, in case she came darting back in. Fortunately, she didn't have to. At first, she never even came back into the room. From outside the door, she spoke with a soft tone, "Looks like we lost them. Come on, let's get moving."

Sun didn't show any signs of urgency as he pushed himself off of the shelf he had been leaning against, and now stood completely upright again. He felt stiff… or more accurately sore from the various skirmishes he'd been through earlier that night. He took a moment to stretch out his arms and back, bending over forward, and then to the left and right. Various cracks and pleasurable groans accompanied his exercise. This delay irritated Blake, causing her to poke her head back inside to see what was slowing them down. She saw Sun in the middle of his stretching, but failed to see the point of it. She raised an eyebrow as if to ask for an explanation.

Sun met her eyes as she rounded the corner. They seemed to have a nonverbal understanding that his stretching was taking up precious time, but they differed on whether or not it was worth it. Sun, pleaded his case, "What? I don't know about you, but I've had… kind of a rough night."

Blake made it clear that her night hadn't exactly been a stroll through the park either. "We... both have. Trust me. Now come on, I've got to take care of this."

The two hours he'd spent in a dark room, barely moving at all, had given him time to dwell on two things. His focus shifted back and forth between the well being of the rest of his team, and trying to rationalize the fact that Blake was here, in what was probably the most dangerous place in all of Vale, after he had specifically told her not to do anything stupid. As much as every fiber of his being wanted to confirm the safety of his friends, he could tell that Blake had something else on her mind.

"So-uh, where exactly are we in such a hurry to get to?" He hesitated, hoping for some sort of response, but got nothing. "I mean, it seems like the Grimm lost track of us, and it looks like it'll be dawn pretty soon, we could just wait it out...here...for a while...ya know...regroup...rest up…"

Blake seemed surprised, in fact almost irritated, at how patient Sun was being. Her numerous interactions with him over the course of several months painted him as someone who was very willing to follow her lead, especially if it meant adventuring into the unknown. "Wait it out?" She repeated, then paused, seemingly trying to collect her thoughts before continuing. "I can't wait it out any more. I need to put this behind me. I have to move on, and… the only way I can do that is to… is to…" The words wouldn't come out.

He had paused his stretching so that he could give his full attention to Blake. Her voice was becoming more unsteady with every passing word, and Sun could tell that whatever was causing it was troubling her greatly. "Move on? From what?" She didn't answer him, and her eyes had the telltale blankness of a thousand yard stare. "Blake, what is it? I want to help you... but you have to let me…" He walked to the doorframe that she had resorted to holding on to for support, and wrapped his arms around her. "Whatever it is, we're gonna figure it out, and we're gonna take care of it. Ok?"

Blake shifted her grasp from the door frame to Sun. The supportive embrace that they now shared was a complete departure from the strength and composure that she had shown earlier in the night, leading them away from the Grimm. In two hours, Sun had strengthened his resolve, but Blake's had crumbled. To him, it was almost unsettling that someone with such a strong will could break at the mere thought of having to do… something. She still hadn't told him what it was.

"We don't have to stay here if you don't want to. I just need you to tell me how I can help. We can't run around like crazy people and hope for the best. That only works against the Grimm." Sun looked down at Blake, who was now looking up at him. She had apparently found some humor in his comment about the Grimm, as she cracked a smile, but it didn't last long.

"Thank you," she started, as her smile faded away. "I… already tried to do this once… a-and I couldn't. I ran away from it. I wasn't strong enough." She paused again, in an effort to compose herself enough to finish her thought. "The whole reason I'm here is to get my weapon. I had to leave Gambol Shroud behind when I... carried…" She literally couldn't say the word that came next, but Sun knew what it was. He had been there when they arrived at the docks. The blood, the tears, he'd seen it all, and he knew how scarring the experience was for her. But in order to put it behind her, she would have to push through it.

"Yang." Sun said the word knowing full well what it meant. The guilt, the misery, the regret… all of it, encapsulated by a single four letter word. Even still, he couldn't understand what Yang had to do with any of this. Blake had said her goodbyes. Sun knew that much from talking to Weiss in the morning, before he left Vale. So, she would have known that her fiery teammate was, at the very least, not in critical condition any more.

He decided that good news might settle her down a little bit. "You know, she woke up. The night you left, actually." Blake's eyes went wide at the news. He continued, "Yeah, Weiss told me before I left town. She's gonna be fine. Just needs a lot of rest and a lot of time." The expression on Blake's face was temporarily full of hope, but as it slowly reverted back to sadness, Sun began to suspect that he was still missing a detail somewhere.

"That's great news," she said, in the least enthusiastic voice Sun had ever heard. "Maybe if I didn't know that her condition was all my fault, this would all be easier…"

The words were so self loathing that Sun couldn't stand hearing them. "You've gotta stop talking like that. You can't control everything in life. Stuff doesn't always just… work out. The world needs people like you… like me… like Yang and Ruby and Weiss. If everything was all rainbows and butterflies, you probably wouldn't even be a huntress. There'd be no point. We're here because we have to be. Because somewhere, sometime, every little thing we do is gonna affect something. It's our job to make sure that it's all for the best. If getting your weapon is part of the path to helping somebody, then that's worth it to me." Sun stepped off of his metaphorical soapbox, and tried to finish his rousing speech on a high note. "Now, are we gonna go get Gambol Shroud, or not?"

He expected a hopeful smile, or maybe a confident nod. The look she gave him was completely the opposite of that. Blake looked pale, almost sick. The words she said were barely able to make it out of her mouth. "The only way I can put all of this behind me… I have to go back... there." Sun nodded, he knew this much already. "I almost made it the whole way to where I left it… and then I saw her. Still lying there, mocking me. Letting me know that everything I did in my life brought me to that moment, and in that moment... I couldn't save her..."

Sun was totally lost. "Who?" His best guess had been that Gambol Shroud was a 'she'.

Blake took a step back from Sun, and looked at the ground, apparently in shame. "Yang."

If he had been lost before, Sun was now mystified by the logic he was hearing. Based on what he knew to be true, he tried to explain the situation again. "Blake, I just told you… Yang's in Vale. She's safe there. I think maybe you should rest up a bit before we-"

She cut him off, "Not... all... of her." Her words were so quiet, and filled with anguish. It hurt Blake to blurt everything out as much as it disturbed Sun to hear it, but the point had been made very clearly. The room fell silent as Sun searched for the right way to try to defuse the tension.

"So her… it's still..." He stopped mid-sentence, and tried to expunge the thoughts that his mind had conjured. "...after all this time?" He didn't want to say it, not only because of how gruesome the mental imagery was, but also because of how visibly distressed Blake was to even talk about it. Her mouth moved, but only short, unintelligible gibberish came out of it.

After several agonizing seconds passed, Sun realized that he was asking about a trauma-inducing experience, and that it might not be the best medicine for Blake's wounded psyche. Then, in an instant, the words came to him. He knew how to help. "Where is it?" The question caused her to slowly raise her eyes up to meet Sun's. "I'll get it. Just tell me where it is."

"Sun, no. I-"

"Blake, yes." With more confidence than ever, Sun shut her rebuttal down. "Maybe you can't see what this is doing to you, but I can. You're a wreck. Your instincts got you this far, but your emotions are going to get you killed. I don't know what motivates you to step out of a hospital bed and into a warzone, or how you ended up running from a pack of Beowolves, but I won't let you keep doing that to yourself."

"I'm fine!" Blake shouted back, with much more intensity than she probably intended.

"You're not!" Sun's initial outburst caught Blake completely by surprise, but he returned to a more natural, calm state almost immediately. He tried to give a fair assessment of Blake's composure. "You look like you haven't slept in… actually… have you slept since Vale?" It was a rhetorical question, so he didn't wait for an answer. "You don't have a weapon, and if I had to guess, I'd say you're still not a hundred percent healed. So, Blake, either you let me come with you and we do this together, or I'll go find Gambol Shroud myself. Either way, we're moving past this. Right now."


End file.
